Mexico seeking stronger ties with China, Foreign Minister says

Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray says his country is aiming for further strengthening of strategic cooperation with China. (Photo by World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)],)

“From the Mexican perspective, China is a very important trade partner,” Videgaray stressed, speaking to reporters in Chile on Wednesday, as quoted by the Excelsior newspaper.

He added that the bilateral relationship between Mexico and China will continue to strengthen and will be increasingly important.

On Wednesday, Videgaray took part in a meeting with representatives of 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) nations along with China, Colombia and South Korea, held in Chile’s Vina del Mar.

The meeting focused on trade cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region in the wake of the US decision to leave the TPP.

Mexico has been seeking alternatives to the TPP in promoting its access to world markets. In February, Mexico’s Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said his country was planning to extend its current trade agreement with the European Union, adding that free trade negotiations have also been launched with Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

In February 2016, 12 Pacific countries signed the TPP agreement, however, the deal remained unratified by the United States and most other signatories. On January 23, 2017, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the TPP and therefore putting the future of the project into question.