The United States of Mexico , Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos

National flag

National emblem

President: Vicente Fox Quesada

Area: 761,602 sq mi (1,972,550 sq km)

Population (2003 est.): 104,907,991 (growth rate: 1.7%); birth rate: 21.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 23.7/1000; density per sq mi: 138

Capital and largest city(2000 est.): Mexico City, 19,750,000 (metro. area)

Other large cities (1995): Guadalajara, 2,178,000; Monterrey, 1,702,000; Ecatepec, 1,456,438 (part of Mexico City metro. area); Nezahualc¨®yotl, 1,259,543 (part of Mexico City metro. area); Puebla, 1,222,177

Monetary unit: Mexican peso

Languages: Spanish, Indian languages

Ethnicity/race: mestizo (Indian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, Caucasian or predominantly Caucasian 9%, other 1%

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3%

Relations with China

(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  the People's Republic of China)

1. Bilateral Political Relations

China established diplomatic relations with Mexico on February 14, 1972. On October 5, 1971, Mexican President Echeverria pointed out in his speech at the 26th session of the UN General Assembly that "China's sovereignty and territorial integrity are legally inseparable". After the resolution of the resumption of China's legal status in the UN was adopted by the session, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico immediately issued a communiqu¨¦ recognizing the People's Republic of China as the "sole legal representative" of China. On November 16, the Mexican government declared the severing of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. On February 14, 1972, China and Mexico issued a Joint Communiqu¨¦ on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of Mexico. Since then, Sino-Mexican relations have been developing smoothly. In recent years in particular, high-level exchange of visits has been frequent and the areas of cooperation continue to expand. In 1993 a political consultation mechanism was established between the two foreign ministries of China and Mexico. Up to now five rounds of consultations have been held since the launch of this mechanism in 1996.

China and Mexico share a lot of common views in international affairs and have conducted fruitful cooperation in multilateral institutions. During the sessions of Human Rights Commission of the UN, Mexico has supported China's stand through abstaining from voting. Mexican Government has on a number of occasions reiterated its stand of one China and not developing official relations with Taiwan. In September 2001, China and Mexico signed a bilateral agreement on China entering WTO. At the 56th Session of WHO conference in May 2003, Mexican representative took the floor to support China's stand on the issue related with Taiwan.

Visits to Mexico: Chinese Premier (Oct. 1981); President Yang Shangkun (May 1990); State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen (Mar. 1993); Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji (May 1993); Premier Li Peng (Oct. 1995); Member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao (Jan. 1997); President Jiang Zemin (Nov. 1997); Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (Sept. 2000); and State Councilor Ismail Amat (May 2001).

Visits to China: All successive Mexican Presidents have visited China since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. They are Echeverria (April 1973), Lopez Portillo (Oct. 1978), De la Madrid (Dec. 1986), Salinas (Nov. 1993), Zedillo (Nov. 1996) and Fox (June 2001). In June 2002, Foreign Minister Castaneda visited China.

II. Bilateral Economic and Trade Relations, Economic and Technological Cooperation

Mexico is China's second largest trading partner in Latin America. In 2002, bilateral trade volume reached $3.97 billion, of which China's export amounted to $2.86 billion and import to $1.11 billion, a year-on-year increase of 60% and 46.5% respectively. Mexico has become China's largest export market in Latin America. Main items of China's export to Mexico include electromechanical equipment, household appliances, textiles, chemical and high-tech products. China imports synthetic fibers, steel products, raw cotton, plastics, electromechanical equipment and hi-tech products.

In September 2001, China and Mexico reached a bilateral agreement on China's accession to WTO. Mexico committed that after six years of China's accession to WTO, it would waive anti-dumping measures contrary to relevant WTO regulations.

Economic and technological cooperation between China and Mexico began in 1980s. At present, China has 12 companies registered in Mexico with contracted investment approaching $200 million and actual investment of $110 million. Mexico-invested projects in China have surpassed 40, with actual investment of $6 million.

III. Exchanges and Cooperation in Cultural, Scientific and Technological, and Educational Fields

Sino-Mexican scientific and technological cooperation involves physics, chemistry, mathematics, disasters reduction and earthquake prevention, industry, agriculture, communications and transportation, energy and construction. Four meetings of the Joint Scientific and Technological Cooperation Committee have been held and more than one hundred projects have been specified for implementation.

Mexico is one of the countries in Latin America that has most cultural exchanges with China. In September 2000, a large-scale cultural relic exhibition "China in Monarchal Period: Xi'an Dynasties" was held in dozens of states and cities in Mexico. In 2001, the Exhibition of Mayan Civilization was held in Guangzhou, Xi'an, Beijing, and Shanghai.

In November 1973, Mexican President Echeverria offered 20 scholarships to China on his own initiative. Since 1978 when the two governments signed an agreement on cultural cooperation, seven meetings of the Joint Cultural and Educational Committee have been held. In 1999 the two sides held the seventh meeting of the Joint Committee and signed the Executive Plan on Cultural and Educational Cooperation for 2000-2002. Up to 2001, China had sent 366 students and 23 person-time teachers to Mexico and accepted 186 students and 13 teachers from Mexico. Enditem