Stronger China relations underline Mexico’s look-East policy

Enrique Peña Nieto says bilateral trade and investment links, in fields ranging from agricultural goods to energy, are growing in tandem with more robust political exchanges

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Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto arrives in Xiamen, Fujian, on Monday with his wife. The president will attend the Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:56am, 5 Sep 2017Updated: 7:30pm, 5 Sep 2017

The Asia-Pacific region continues to be the world leader in growth and it will play a defining role in the future of the global economy. Therefore, it has been a top priority for the Mexican government to strengthen its ties with key Asian partners, especially China, a fundamental player in the international arena and an indisputable pole of growth and development.

Since the start of both my term in office and that of President Xi Jinping, we have imprinted our bilateral ties with an unprecedented dynamism through a continuous exchange of high-level visits and persistent encouragement of bilateral trade and investment. This is my fourth visit to China as president of Mexico, and the seventh time I will meet President Xi.

In 2013, our countries upgraded our relationship into a comprehensive strategic partnership. Undoubtedly, this was a decisive step in broadening and deepening our political, economic and cooperation links. This partnership has allowed us to create specialised mechanisms to strengthen our exchanges in all areas.

China says it’s open to free trade agreement with Mexico

In the economic track, the high-level business working group and the high-level investment working group seek to help Mexican and Chinese companies build solid ties, facilitate the establishment of alliances and identify profitable business opportunities.

Through the working group, we established a bilateral investment fund with capital of US$2.4 billion. Its mission is to stimulate investment in strategic sectors for both countries, such as telecommunications and energy. So far, the fund has invested in two projects in Mexico: one in the field of oil exploration and production and another in the shared telecommunications network – Mexico’s most ambitious telecoms project.

Stronger China relations underline Mexico’s look-East policy

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China says it’s open to free trade agreement with Mexico