Mexico, China to implement $2.4b joint investment plan

MEXICO CITY - Mexico and China are working to implement a joint investment fund of $2.4 billion to promote development, an official told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Carlos Pinera, the director of international trade at the Economy Ministry, said the plan is to use the fund for the automotive industry and infrastructure construction, such as ports, sectors in which companies from both countries can complement each other.

"It's something that we are seeking to establish for specific investment projects, especially in the matter of infrastructure, and that we can complement with ... global value chains," Pinera said in the interview on Wednesday.

Mexico and China agreed to create the mutual fund in November 2014, during Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's state visit to China.

The Chinese government and Mexican state-run financial institutions are to finance the fund, but the percentage each will contribute has yet to be hammered out, said Pinera.

"It's being worked out, we hope to have something more concrete this year," added Pinera.

The joint fund represents a major increase in Chinese investment in Mexico, which accounted for just 0.2 percent of all foreign investment in the country in 2015, according to Pinera.

Foreign investment in Mexico last year amounted to $28.5 billion, the Economy Ministry said in January.

In 2014, China became Mexico's second-largest trading partner after the United States, reflecting the rise in imports of intermediate and capital goods from China, said Pinera.