The Hualong-1 Project in Argentina: A Case Study of the Belt and Road Initiative's Economic, Technological, and Geopolitical Complexities

GE GAO^1,2*

• ¹Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
• ²Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

China's Belt and Road Initiative offers substantial economic opportunities through expanded trade, investment, and connectivity, yet these prospects are accompanied by significant structural challenges. Central concerns include debt sustainability in host nations, often aggravated by limited transparency and fiscal fragility, as well as the highly variable effectiveness of technology transfer. The Hualong-1 project in Argentina serves as a salient illustration of these complexities, highlighting the intricate interplay of domestic vulnerabilities and external conventionalities. The project's viability is shaped not only by Argentina's chronic macroeconomic instability, recurrent political shifts, and strong public and environmental opposition, but also by the restrictive nature of its turnkey delivery model. This arrangement raises critical questions about the extent of genuine technological transfer versus limited local assembly under Chinese oversight, thereby undermining Argentina's historical pursuit of nuclear autonomy. At the geopolitical level, the project is further conditioned by the intensifying U.S.–China rivalry, which imposes strategic pressures on Argentina's policy space. Employing grounded theory and in-depth elite interviews, this research investigates that Argentina's nuclear cooperation under the BRI is driven by a complex rationality where national aspirations, structural economic constraints, and external influences continuously interact.