Across China: Mexican companies rev up business ties with western China

More Mexican companies are ramping up trade and business relations with western China, as the region has emerged as a frontier of opening up and is poised to share more development opportunities with other countries.

Twenty-four Mexican companies will attend the 4th Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT), held from Thursday to Sunday in Chongqing Municipality.

"Mexico is China's second-largest trading partner in Latin America and the two countries have a good economic relationship," said Julio Cesar Cruz Moreno, the president of the Chongqing Chapter of The Mexican Chamber of Commerce in China (MEXCHAM).

In 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and Mexico reached a new high of $86.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 41.9 percent.

"However, many companies are more familiar with Beijing and Shanghai. We want to use this opportunity to build a bridge between Mexican companies and Chongqing or the whole of western China," added Moreno.

Nemak, a world-leading light-weighting auto component provider, has seen remarkable development in Chongqing over the past 10 years.

"With a strong infrastructure and supply chain for the auto industry, Chongqing has attracted many auto companies to establish business here," said Li Zhi, the Operations Director of Nemak China.

The advantage of having an industrial cluster in Chongqing has also helped the Mexican company withstand the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic and maintain a steady growth, Li added.

In addition, the strong development in China's new energy vehicles (NEV) industry has provided companies like Nemak with new impetus for growth.

"Many local NEV companies want to work with us. This will not only impel us to continuously invest in new technology but also indicates more business opportunities in western China," Li said.

In 2021, sales of NEVs in China surged about 160 percent to 3.52 million units. In Chongqing, the production of NEVs reached 150,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 252 percent.

"We are looking forward to finding more opportunities at the WCIFIT and charting a better future for our business in western China," said Li.

Italika, the largest motorcycle company in Mexico with a market share of nearly 70 percent, also benefited from its business ties with western China. Most of the company's products were exported from Chongqing to Mexico.

"Last year, we shipped more than 10,000 containers of motorcycles to Mexico, compared with only 800 in 2008," said Jaziel Romero Rodríguez, the logistics manager of Italika Chongqing office.

"More and more Mexicans have embraced 'made in Chongqing' motorcycles," said Rodríguez, noting that a growing number of Mexican companies have shown interest in doing business with local manufacturers in Chongqing.

In 2021, China exported 1.42 million motorcycles to Mexico, the largest market in the world for Chinese motorcycles. The export volume reached 4.7 billion yuan (about $694 million).

"Chongqing is the manufacturing base for automobiles and motorcycles, but it's more than that," said Moreno. "We sincerely hope that more companies can come to western China and find a new space for China-Mexico economic and trade cooperation."