SAN FRANCISCO– Chinese President Xi Jinping, fresh from meeting President Joe Biden, courted Indo-Pacific leaders in a flurry of meetings on Thursday at a time of increasing competition with the United States.
Xi held individual talks with the leaders of Mexico, Peru and Fiji, and he scheduled a later session with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, all on the sidelines of a summit of economic cooperation economies in the Asia-Pacific region.
During a meeting with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, Xi said the two countries should strengthen economic and trade cooperation and pledged China’s support for Peru to host the APEC leaders’ summit next year.
In particular, Xi said, China will be willing to import more “premium” agricultural products from the South American country and will encourage Chinese companies to participate in major projects in Peru.
Earlier, Xi held talks with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, praising the Mexican president for his leadership and reform efforts and vowing to take China-Mexico relations to a new level. It was believed to be the first face-to-face meeting between the two men.
During the meeting, the two sides agreed to deepen anti-drug cooperation. China and the United States said on Wednesday the two would work together to stem the flow of fentanyl precursors to countries such as Mexico before the drug runs out and is smuggled into the US.
Xi said the two countries should cooperate in sectors such as infrastructure, finance and electric vehicles, while Lopez Obrador said Mexico would pave the way for Chinese companies investing in Mexico. The Mexican leader also said his country would be willing to cooperate with China on multilateral affairs and help promote China-Latin America relations, Chinese state media said.
In recent years, many Chinese companies – faced with tariffs and other restrictions from the US government – have moved some of their production to Mexico. Xi expressed condolences for those affected by Hurricane Otis and said China has made emergency arrangements for Mexico to obtain relief supplies.
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Xi also met Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. Xi said Beijing treats Fiji as “a good friend and a good partner” in the South, roughly referring to developing countries.
Xi spent four hours with Biden on Wednesday, their first in-person meeting in a year.