MEXICO CITY, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Mexico is a sign of deepening cooperation and indicates the two countries are eager to boost their economic and trade ties, officials and experts say.
Xi's three-day stay in Mexico starting later Tuesday will include his second meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in less than two months.
He will also meet parliament leaders, entrepreneurs and members of the Chinese community.
The two sides are expected to sign a series of economic and trade agreements and issue a joint statement on further development of bilateral ties.
China is Mexico's second-largest trading partner, while the latter is China's second-largest in Latin America. Two-way trade jumped from about 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2003 to more than 36 billion dollars in 2012.
In a written interview with Mexican media before his three-nation Latin American tour, Xi said China was ready to work with Mexico to expand and optimize bilateral trade, raising the possibility of starting negotiations on a bilateral free trade deal.
Officials and experts believe trade relations between China and Mexico are complementary rather than competitive, and the two countries should make more efforts to identify the complementarities in their economies.
In a trip to China in early April, four months after he took office, Pena Nieto met Xi in China's southern city of Sanya and the two leaders agreed to work together to enhance trust and achieve win-win cooperation.
During the visit, Pena Nieto announced the establishment of a government agency to handle trade issues with China.
"For Mexico, China represents an opportunity to increase its productive investment, and multiply and diversify its export capacity. China's economic dynamism, the size of its market and its high demand for goods turn China into an attractive market for Mexico," he said in an interview with Xinhua in April.
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