On the evening of May 17, 2006, Mexican President Vicente Fox met in Mexico City with the Chinese delegation that was headed by Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to attend the second meeting of China-Mexico inter-governmental standing committee.

Fox said that both countries are not competitors, but important cooperative partners. Both sides enjoy sound situation and rapid growth in the economic area and enhanced cooperation is beneficial to achieving common development and responding to their respective challenges. In recent years, both sides have conducted frequent exchanges of high-level visits and established the inter-governmental standing committee, opening up a new channel for closer dialogue and advanced cooperation. Mexico will as always continue friendship with China and would like to work with it to push bilateral cooperation in all areas to continuously score new achievements. He indicated belief that the second meeting of Mexico-China inter-governmental standing committee will further push for the existing sound relations between both countries.

Li said that since the establishment of strategic partnership in 2003 and the founding of the inter-governmental standing committee in 2004, bilateral relations have been developing rapidly with fruitful cooperation in all areas and effective coordination and cooperation in international affairs. Last year, the heads of state of both sides reached consensus on formulating a joint action plan for the bilateral standing committee by approaching from long-term development of bilateral relations. China would like to implement such consensus jointly with Mexico, actively formulate and implement the joint action plan and push for steady and sound development of bilateral cooperation in all areas so that bilateral relationship will become a model for sincere win-win cooperation for mutual benefits between developing nations.

Chinese Ambassador to Mexico Ren Jingyu, Vice Minister of Transportation Huang Xianyao, Vice Minister of Culture Chen Xiaoguang, Assistant Minister of Commerce Cheng Jian, Deputy Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development Gao Hongbin and other officials attended the meeting.

On the evening of May 17, Li arrived in Mexico City to kick off his official visit to this country, during which he will attend the second meeting of China-Mexico inter-governmental standing committee. On the evening of the same day, Li met with Mexican business people.