Following hot on the heels of yesterday’s Slog piece about China benefiting from sovereign cock-ups (and meeting militant Islam on the way) comes news today of a deal done with Argentina to invest in its railway infrastructure.

The Wall St Journal notes that ‘the Asian giant is to invest $10 billion in the South American country’s railways, Beijing’s latest move to extend its influence in Latin America through multibillion-dollar energy and infrastructure deals’.

Interesting again, though, that it has chosen a country with no access to credit markets, having defaulted on its loans nine years ago. Argentina will get the funds in 19-year loans carrying an interest rate of Libor + 600 basis points, or hundredths of a percentage point; but to be honest, the interest rate is irrelevant: China is obviously pursuing a global predator strategy.

Quick – somebody alert the Foreign Office: they won’t have noticed yet.