According to the Mexico News newspaper, China’s investment in Mexico has continued to grow, while Chinese companies engaged in exporting to the United States are also showing interest in Mexico. Last year, China invested a record of almost $500 million in Mexico, compared to less than $300 million in 2020 and less than $200 million in 2019. Within two years, “Hofusan Industrial Park,” the first industrial park built by the Chinese in North America, expects to have 35 companies from China. In a recent report, Bloomberg noted that the industrial park has become a haven for China to bypass U.S. tariffs and restart supply chains in the wake of the epidemic. In this way, it takes advantage of the tax exemptions between Mexico and the United States under the framework of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Victor Jeifets, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, told Sputnik News: “The Americans have leverage on Mexico, which is very interested in the U.S. market. At the moment, with the growth of Chinese companies’ influence there, the United States will not go down the road of intensifying conflict with Mexico. The United States needs allies when dealing with China-related issues, and will not take the risk of forcing Mexico to make a choice. Therefore, if the cooperation between China and Mexico does not undermine the USMCA, the United States will not set up obstacles.”

According to Mexican media reports, some new Sino-Mexican cooperation projects have been announced. They include a $1 billion investment over four years by Chinese solar panel maker Solarever Group in a Chinese-owned automotive battery plant in Jalisco. China’s Lingong Machinery Group announced plans to build a $140 million manufacturing plant in Nuevo León, on Mexico’s northern border.

Source: Sputnik News (Russia), September 24, 2022
https://sputniknews.cn/20220924/1044226872.html

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said not long ago that he wants to mend relations with China. However, he described China’s position on Russia’s aggression into Ukraine as “ambiguous.” Zelensky said in a French media interview that he hopes China can help Ukraine, but he also said it would be “difficult,” at the moment, to arrange a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Zelensky also said that before Russia’s aggression against Ukraine seven months ago, there were ‘channels of communication” between Kyiv and Beijing. The two countries used to have “a lot of economic and trade cooperation.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last week. Kuleba later tweeted that Wang Yi told him that China respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and opposes the use of force as a way to resolve differences between countries.

Source: CNA, September 24, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202209240220.aspx

BBC Chinese recently published a fact-check article looking into what the latest transportation data showed. China is buying more Russian oil, and India is ramping up imports from Russia as well. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been going on for more than half a year. Asian countries bought oil and gas from Russia at a discount as the West has imposed sanctions on Russia and plans gradually to to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian energy exports to the EU have fallen.  Never-the-less, the EU is still buying huge amounts of oil, more than a million barrels a day. However, EU member states have said that, starting in December, they will ban all oil shipped by sea and most Russian oil is transported by sea rather than through pipelines. India and China, however, have recently become big buyers, accounting for more than half of all seaborne oil exports from Russia. In March, China and India imported more oil from Russia than the 27 EU member states combined. Ocean shipping information showed that India’s import of Russian oil known as Urals and ESPO (Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean) showed sharp increases. Since March, China has also been buying a lot of Urals and ESPO. In early July, China reportedly bought a record amount for the second month in a row. By contrast, Japan has made it clear that it will phase out imports of Russian oil, while South Korea’s imports of Russian crude oil have also declined. While the price of Russian oil is attractive, India’s big refiners are facing difficulties in how to finance these purchases due to sanctions on Russian banks. One of the options India has is to trade in local currencies. Russia also asked India to pay in UAE currency. China’s state-owned oil companies are increasingly using Chinese Yuan instead of US. Dollars to buy oil from abroad. In July, Russia remained China’s largest oil supplier for three consecutive months.

Source: BBC Chinese, September 11, 2022
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-62834711