No Third Party Should Shape China-Mexico Ties, Wang Yi Tells Velasco in Beijing

Beijing's "No Third Party" Message Lands as Washington Pressures Mexico City

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told Mexico that the relationship between the two countries "does not target any third party, nor should it be influenced by any third party" - a pointed message delivered as reports circulate that the United States is pressing its southern neighbor to curb economic ties with Beijing. Wang made the remarks on Monday during talks with Roberto Velasco Alvarez, Mexico's secretary of foreign affairs, in Beijing, in Velasco's first official visit to China since taking office in April.

The meeting came at a delicate moment for Mexico, which is negotiating with Washington ahead of the 2026 joint review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and which in January imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on imports from China and other countries without free trade agreements with Mexico. Velasco, according to China's Foreign Ministry, said Mexico firmly adheres to the one-China principle and supports China's hosting of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.

A First Official Visit, and a Consulate in Chongqing

Velasco's trip marked his first official visit to Beijing since becoming Mexico's top diplomat in April, according to the South China Morning Post. He used the visit to highlight the opening of a Mexican career consulate in Chongqing, the southwestern Chinese megacity, which his office described as reaffirming Mexico's commitment to strengthening ties between the two peoples. China's Foreign Ministry said the two sides exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China has consistently viewed and advanced its relationship with Mexico from the strategic perspective of solidarity and cooperation among Global South countries. He expressed appreciation for Mexico's "longstanding and firm" commitment to the one-China principle, and said China supports Mexico in upholding its independence, sovereignty and security, and in opposing foreign interference, according to state news agency CGTN.

Mexico's Tariff Wall: A Balancing Act Between Two Capitals

Monday's warmth contrasted sharply with the state of trade relations at the start of the year. On January 1, Mexico's sweeping tariff decree took effect, raising duties on 1,463 tariff lines from countries with which Mexico has no free trade agreement - a list that includes China, India, South Korea, Brazil and Russia. Rates range from 5 percent to 50 percent, with the highest duties applied to vehicles, including electric cars from Chinese manufacturers such as BYD, according to the English edition of El Pais and Mexico News Daily.

The tariff wall reflects an extraordinary trade imbalance: Mexico buys more than US$129 billion of goods from China each year while exporting only about US$9 billion, a deficit of roughly US$120 billion that the Sheinbaum administration has vowed to correct. But the measure also arrived as Mexico sought to demonstrate its reliability to Washington before the USMCA review, with critics warning it could raise consumer prices and squeeze manufacturers that depend on Chinese inputs. China was among the first to criticize the decree and opened an investigation into possible retaliatory measures, according to El Pais.

The Foreign Investment Reform and the Road to the USMCA Review

The diplomatic choreography is unfolding against a harder-edged policy backdrop. Bloomberg reported in July that Washington was pushing Mexico to mirror its trade barriers on Chinese steel and aluminum, part of a broader effort to limit what US manufacturers call the "backdoor" use of Mexico to evade American tariffs on Chinese goods. According to the South China Morning Post, the United States has made similar demands of Canada, and trade negotiations between Ottawa and Washington collapsed last month in part over reported US demands to limit Canada's trade deals with third countries - a restriction widely seen as targeting China.

Mexico appears to be responding. At the end of last month, the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum submitted a proposed reform to the Senate amending the country's Foreign Investment Law. The amendments would subject foreign acquisitions in sensitive sectors such as energy, artificial intelligence and semiconductors to national security reviews - a framework that would apply to Chinese and other investors alike and that Mexican officials frame as part of a broader import-substitution strategy, Plan Mexico.

Japan's Stake in the Mexico-China Equation

For Japan, the Mexico-China dynamic carries direct consequences. Japanese automakers - Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda - assemble vehicles in Mexico for the North American market, supported by a network of Japanese suppliers, and they have been lobbying to safeguard their USMCA-based production network ahead of the 2026 joint review, seeking to protect an estimated US$87 billion in North American investments, according to Mexican business media. Japanese brands also compete directly with Chinese carmakers in Mexico, where Chinese vehicles have captured roughly 30 percent of imported-vehicle sales, according to Mexican industry commentators cited by the Baker Institute.

Mexico's tariff decree does not apply to goods qualifying under the Japan-Mexico Economic Partnership Agreement, in force since 2005, which shields most Japanese exports from the new MFN duties. But the rules of origin that matter most to Japanese industry are those of the USMCA, and any tightening of those rules to exclude Chinese content will reshape the supply chains that Japanese plants in Mexico depend on. The Foreign Investment Law reform, meanwhile, signals that national-security reviews are becoming a standard tool in Mexico - a development Japanese investors will need to factor into future acquisitions.

APEC 2026 and 2028: The Asia-Pacific Arena Both Capitals Are Courting

The November APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen, scheduled for November 18-19, provides the immediate stage for these competing currents. Wang told Velasco that Beijing would use its APEC hosting year to work with all parties to reinvigorate the Asia-Pacific community and advance the process of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific - an ambition that has historically sat uneasily with Japan's preference for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as the region's trade template. Velasco, for his part, said Mexico supports China hosting the meeting and playing a leading role under the mechanism.

Mexico's own APEC future is already secured: it has been confirmed as the host of the 2028 APEC summit, an assignment that Mexican officials describe as a "historic opportunity" to project the country's role as a bridge between the Americas and Asia. That timeline means Mexico will be courting both Washington and Beijing for years to come, with the Shenzhen summit in November serving as an early test of whether it can sustain that balance. Japan, as a founding APEC economy and the host of the 2024 meeting in the run-up cycle, will be watching closely as the bloc's center of gravity shifts toward Chinese and Mexican leadership years.

What to Watch For

Three markers will define the next phase of the Mexico-China relationship. First, the USMCA joint review: whether Washington and Mexico complete bilateral agreements before entering three-way talks with Canada, and how any new rules of origin treat Chinese content in Mexican factories. Second, Mexico's Foreign Investment Law reform as it moves through the Senate - the precise definition of "sensitive sectors" will determine how much scrutiny Chinese capital, and by extension other foreign capital, faces in energy, AI and semiconductors. Third, the APEC season itself: Shenzhen in November will show whether Mexico's public support for China's hosting role translates into concrete cooperation on trade and technology issues, and whether the United States accepts Mexico's dual-track diplomacy.

For Tokyo, the stakes are less about the rhetoric of "no third parties" and more about the architecture that emerges around it. Japanese industry has spent three decades building North American supply chains through Mexico. If the USMCA review and Mexico's investment reforms reshape those chains to satisfy Washington's China concerns, Japanese plants will have to adapt alongside their Mexican and American partners. The real question is whether Mexico can remain a neutral production platform in a contest between its two largest commercial partners - or whether, like Japan itself, it will be forced to choose.

By Kenji Tanaka, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: CGTN, South China Morning Post, El Pais, Mexico News Daily, China.org.cn.