Lin Jian, the newly appointed 34th spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meets the press. Photo: Courtesy of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday commended Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's remarks that Mexico doesn't want a trade war with China.

"Both advocating economic globalization based on inclusiveness, China and Mexico are good friends and good partners that are seeking mutually beneficial development. Win-win cooperation is the nature of China-Mexico economic and trade ties," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press conference.

China is willing to join hands with Mexico to implement the important consensus reached during the San Francisco summit meeting between the two heads of state to continuously deepen the China-Mexico comprehensive strategic partnership, Lin said.

The comments came as Lopez Obrador reportedly said that Mexico does not want a trade war with China, and China's investment in Mexico will continue, in response to a media question over former US president Donald Trump's threat to levy additional tariffs on cars made by Chinese-funded companies in Mexico.

During a recently election rally in Dayton, Ohio, Trump said that he would hit cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies with a 100-percent tariff.

That's double the levy he previously said he would put on vehicles made south of the US border, Bloomberg reported on March 17.

Despite growing US pressure, Mexico still attaches great importance to its economic and trade relations with China, and its China policy is clear, Wu Hongying, director of the Institute of Regional and International Studies at Hubei University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Wu said that the two countries should further strengthen communications as well as economic and trade cooperation to maintain their comprehensive strategic partnership.

According to Wu, strengthening industrial cooperation with China will help promote local manufacturing in Mexico and strengthen its supply chains.

China is Mexico's second-largest trading partner globally, while Mexico is China's second-largest trading partner in Latin America. According to Chinese customs, bilateral trade reached $100.2 billion in 2023.

China's exports to Mexico reached $81.5 billion, while imports stood at $18.7 billion.

Dong Jingsheng, a deputy director of Peking University's Latin America Research Center, told the Global Times on Wednesday that there is great potential for China and Mexico to deepen cooperation in infrastructure, the petroleum sector and telecommunications.

"Mexico is an important petroleum exporter but the amount of petroleum trade between China and Mexico is not that big now. If the two countries can make breakthroughs in this regard, Mexico's trade deficit with China will narrow significantly," Dong said.

Global Times