A series of economic, social, cultural, scientific,
communications and agricultural agreements between
China and Mexico were signed in Beijing on Tuesday during the
inaugural conference of a permanent Sino-Mexican commission.
The founding ceremony of the permanent bi-national commission
was held on Monday, with visiting Mexican Foreign Minister Luis
Ernesto Derbez Bautista and his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing in
attendance.
The two-day conference of the commission, which closed Tuesday,
included four subcommittee meetings covering politics, trade and
economics, science and technology, and education and culture.
President Hu Jintao
applauded the establishment of the permanent commission
between the two governments and the success of its first conference
when he met Derbez at the Great Hall of the People. He indicated
that strengthening friendly bilateral cooperation would benefit the
two countries' socioeconomic development.
One of the agreements inked on Tuesday was a civil aviation
transport agreement, which will provide the legal framework for
future air transport cooperation between the two countries. It is
viewed as one of the greatest achievements of the conference.
According to a joint statement issued after the signing, each
country can designate two airlines to operate flights between two
destinations with no limits on the number of flights. Direct
flights between the two countries may open within this year,
according to Wang Ronghua, director of the Department of
International Affairs and Cooperation of the Civil Aviation
Administration of China (CAAC).
He said that CAAC would encourage domestic airlines to operate
on the China-Mexico routes, benefiting from Mexico's large number
of air routes in South America.
After a three-day visit to Beijing, Derbez said that he would
accompany a group of Mexican entrepreneurs on a visit to Shanghai,
China's financial hub, to seek more investment opportunities.
(China Daily August 18, 2004)