BUENOS AIRES - Argentine experts have created a forum called the Observatory of the Chinese Economy (OCE) to improve their understanding of changes in China due to its growing global importance.

"China is in constant change and progress. It is hard for Argentina to get an idea of international integration without understanding China," said Matias Kulfas, president of the OCE which was established by the Association of Development Economics of Argentina (AEDA).

The relationship with China is "extremely important" to Argentina, as it provides an opportunity for expanding the market for the Argentine exports, Kulfas told Xinhua in a recent interview.

He said the OCE was born with the goal of specifically analyzing China's position in the international economy and in particular in those issues of interest to Argentina.

The OCE experts will study the transformation of China, which has been on track for rapid development during the last three decades since it introduced market reforms and opened up its economy in the late 1970s.

A 14-people group, including sociologists, economists and political scientists, is already working at the OCE, said Kulfas, adding that they will mainly focus on trade, foreign investments, exchange rate policy and labor costs indicators.

China is Argentina's second largest trading partner only after Brazil.

The Chinese economy, the second largest in the world, grew 9.6 percent in the first half of 2011. The country is the fifth largest investor in the world.

China's economic growth has averaged 9.8 percent annually over the past 30 years. This development has made a 30-percent contribution to the growth of the global economy.