China, Mexico agree on 'strategic' partnership

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Mexican counterpart vowed to work jointly to access international markets, like the lucrative US market, as part of a new strategic partnership.
Xi yesterday begins his second day of a three-day visit to the Latin American economic powerhouse, which will include a speech before Mexico's congress.
Xi arrived in Mexico after visiting Costa Rica, and after meeting Caribbean leaders in Trinidad and Tobago. Xi travels to the United States tomorrow for a much-anticipated weekend summit with US President Barack Obama.
China has in recent years aggressively pushed trade and investment ties with the developing world, particularly Africa and Latin America, to secure raw materials to fuel its economic growth and wield greater geopolitical influence in relation to the United States.
On Tuesday Xi and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto pledged to enhance diplomatic and trade ties between the two countries, and to smooth over their long-standing rivalry on exporting products to the United States.
Xi in turn praised the "comprehensive strategic partnership" between the two countries.
China has expanded its trade and investment ties with Latin America in recent years as the world's second biggest economy taps into the region's mineral and oil wealth to fuel its economic growth.
In Costa Rica, Xi and President Laura Chinchilla signed agreements on projects worth nearly $2 billion, including upgrades of an oil refinery, a key highway and public transport.