Mexican minister visits Singapore, China to boost trade

Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade travels to Singapore and China Saturday on a mission to boost trade with the two Asian nations. China's President Xi Jinping promised to increase investment in Mexico when he visited the country in June. Meade will follow up on that agreement in China, Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement. China has in recent years aggressively pushed trade and investment ties with the developing world, particularly Africa and Latin America, to secure raw materials to fuel its economic growth. It is Mexico's second most important trade partner after the United States, but trade is heavily tilted in China's favor. Mexico imported $57 billion worth of Chinese imports last year while exporting just $5.7 billion, according to the Mexican central bank. Meade will meet his counterpart Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam in Singapore, the second largest investor from the Asia-Pacific region in Mexico after Japan, the foreign ministry said. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free-trade agreement being negotiated by nine countries including Mexico, Australia, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, will also be on the agenda.