XI's trip to further boost China-LatAm ties(3)

Mexico, one of the three countries in the region President Xi will visit, is an important emerging market with which China has a strategic partnership.

Ulises Granados, a Mexican expert on China, said China-Mexico relations have experienced some ups and downs during the rule of previous Mexican governments, but the new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, attaches great importance to developing relations with China.

He believes Xi's visit will open up new prospects for bilateral ties, with Mexico hoping to expand cooperation with China in agriculture and animal husbandry, energy and tourism.

Costa Rica, also a destination on Xi's forthcoming trip, is the only Central American nation that has diplomatic ties with China. It has maintained close cooperative relations with China while China has invested heavily in Costa Rica, including a refinery project.

According to local media reports, Costa Rica hopes to expand exchange and cooperation with China in such fields as energy, trade, environment, infrastructure, education and culture.

Xi's visit to Trinidad and Tobago will mark the first time that a Chinese president visited the English-speaking Caribbean nation.

The Foreign Ministry of Trinidad and Tobago issued a communique emphasizing the contributions made by the Chinese in the country to local economic and cultural development.

With high expectations as such for the visit, the trip will undoubtedly push the bilateral relations to a new level.