This will remain a pressing challenge for Mexico in the near future, as experts at think tanks like the Atlantic Council predict that while Mexican-Chinese trade will continue to grow until 2035, it will remain overwhelmingly favorable to China. Still, Mexico’s trade with China is unbalanced: We import much more from China ($83.05 billion in 2019) than what we export ($7.14 billion) even as Mexico’s exports have been growing, driven by oil, mining products, automotive parts and electronics. ($619 billion in 2019) remains far greater than its trade with China ($90 billion in 2019), its trade with China has grown at a faster rate this century. fell from 81% in 1999 to 63% of Mexico’s total trade in 2019. Over roughly the same period, trade with the U.S. Since the turn of the century, trade with China has made up a growing share of Mexico’s trade portfolio, rising from 1% of Mexico’s total trade in 2000 to 9.8% in 2019. China became Mexico’s second trading partner in 2003, behind the U.S. It’s true that China’s economic relationship with Mexico was negligible for many years, but this started to change at the beginning of this century, and the two maintain a dynamic, if challenging, partnership. In that sense, Mexico can be considered a lao pengyou, an old friend of China. In 1972, Mexico became the second Latin American country to establish diplomatic relationships with the People’s Republic of China.

Mexico’s relationship with China is also well-established. is Mexico’s top trading partner, and more than 36 million people of Mexican origin live in the U.S. are more obvious: The two countries share a 1,954-mile border, the U.S. Mexico’s relationships with both countries are complex and long-standing. If Mexico can effectively navigate the showdown between the two superpowers, it will go a long way in shaping not only its own economic future, but also the future of the U.S.-China rivalry. For Mexico, however, the path forward is particularly complex, considering the country’s dynamic and close economic ties to both China and its frequent rival, the United States. This article is part of a series examining the evolving relationships between China and Latin America.Įvery country in Latin America faces a set of choices in how it responds to China’s growing presence in the region.

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