Mexico export promotion body sees China as preferred trade, investment partner

Mexico's export promotion body ProMexico has listed China as one of the eight most desirable nations for trade and investment, ProMexico's president Bruno Ferrari said Tuesday.

"China is one of the eight priority nations for Mexico," Ferrari said during a conference on Mexico's economy organized by ProMexico.

Ferrari said that Bardahl, the Mexican auto lubricants and accessories firm, had joined the nation's biggest breadmaker Bimbo and medium-sized restaurant chain Fogoncito in investing in and profiting from ventures in China.

Meanwhile, Ferrari said he was proud that Chinese copper tube manufacturer Golden Dragon had set up businesses in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico, and that its investment there had topped 140 million U.S. dollars.

Mexico is now promoting itself as "the gateway to the Americas" in China, and Chinese businessmen are discovering Mexico as a shortcut to get into the U.S. market, he said. He added that many northern Mexican states are home to so-called maquilas: factories that buy intermediate goods for processing into final goods and export into the United States.

Agustin Carstens, governor of the Bank of Mexico, earlier told the ProMexico conference that Asian economies, especially the emerging markets, were "the horse pulling the world's growth cart."

It was the second time Carstens emphasized Asia's role in global economic recovery. In late April, he said that the possibility of a systemic crisis has been "diluted" because of Asian economic support.

Source:Xinhua