Pres Hu Jintao of China,on an extended visit to North America,wooed Mexican leaders during a tate visit here,trying to smooth out the often prickly relationship between the two countries as part of a larger campaign to expand China's influence in Latin America.
The Chinese leader's stop here came amid his first trip to North American countries that included a visit to Canada late last week.Hu is now scheduled to journey to the United Nations in New York for the annual session of the General Assembly before returning home via Vancouver.
A long-planned summit meetin gwith President George W Bush in Washington was postponed in hte aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,though the two leaders are expected to meet one another on the sidelines of the UN gathering.
On Monday afternoon,Hu and President Vicente Fox of Mexico signed several minor agreement with great fanfare,amongthem one providing for mutual tax limits on companies doing business in both countries and another that would allow Mexico to export grapes to China in return for importing Chinese pears.
The countries also agreed on a framework for negotiating future accords that may ecentually allow Chinese compnies to mine iron and other mineral in Mexico.In recent years,China has been scouring Latin America for iron and oil to feed its roaring economy.
But China's relations with Mexico are nearly as complex as they are with Mexico's northern neighbor.Underneath the show of cooperation lies an ugly economic street fight over the US market,analysts say.Chinese companies have battered Mexico's manufacturers and farmers in recent years,and many here see China threatening to replace Mexico as the main supplier of light manufactured goods to the US.
Last year,China knocked Mexicon out of the No. 2 spot on the list of exporters to the US.And Mexico itself is flooed with Chinese products,both legal and contraband,from chili peppers to electronics.Last year,Mexico imported $ 31 in goods from China for every dollar's worth it sent sent there,according to trade experts here,and that does not include the thriving market in smuggled Chinese goods.
"The real relationship between the People's Republic of China and Mexico is very tense " said Eniriqu Dussel Peters.an expert on Mexican -Chinese trade at the Autonomous University of Mexico.
"This ratio of 31 to 1,which is only going to grow in the short run,is not only asocial problem,but could become a political problems " he said.
In a specch after a signing ceremony.Fox made it clear that he had spoken with Hu about the yawning trade deficit and the dumping of contraband Chinese goods.
"Today we heard from President Hu his enthuassm,his help, his support in closing the commercial gap " Fox said,looking over at Hu " We touched on the subject of contraband and President Hu offered to help with this area."
For his part,Hu kept his remarks short and diplomatic,saying only that he looked forward to seeing more Mexicn products in the Chinese market.Later in the day,he visited the Mexican Supreme Court and then the Senate,where he got stuck in a broken elevator for 15 minutes.
Hu's visit seems to be part of a broader effort to secure future sources of oil,iron ore,alumunium,timber and other commodities throughout Canada and Latin America,despite the longtime hegemony of the US in the region.
Under Hu's watch, Chinese companies have signed deals to develop oil fields and mines and to buy commodities in Brazil,Venezuela,Chile,Cuba,Bolivia and Argentina.Mexico is different.
The constitution bans foreign investment in Petroleos Mexicanos,the state-owned oil monololy,and the country lacks reserves of iron bauxite,analysts said.
Julian Ventura ,the Mexican director general for Asian affairs,said oil exploration did not even come up Monday.And the mining agreement is only a framwork for future deals,not a blinding conract,he said.
Still, Ventura said the agreements were intended to begin diminishing the trade gap.One of the most important agreements Ventura said the agreements were intended to begin deminishing the trade gap.One of the most important agreements,Ventura said,will establish direct flights between the two countries and allow large tour groups to travel to Mexico from China.a potentially rich source of foreign exchange.
"China is a country that has firmly arrived here in the international economy with an unprecedented impact and volume " Ventura said "And what we are looking to do is to see this reality from the perspective of opportunities and not from the perspective of a threat.
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