Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday pledged their countries' efforts to further expand bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

During talks with Calderon, Xi hailed the steady development of bilateral relations ever since the establishment of diplomatic ties 37 years ago.

And since the establishment of the Sino-Mexican strategic partnership in 2003, mutual political trust has been strengthened, the scope of mutually beneficial cooperation expanded and cultural and human exchanges enhanced, Xi said.

He expressed China's appreciation for the Mexican government's adherence to the one-China policy over the issues of Taiwan and Tibet.

Xi said China always treats Sino-Mexican ties from a strategic height and regards Mexico as a good friend and partner of China in Latin America.

The two countries should seize the opportunities, bring into full play their respective advantages and expand the areas of cooperation so as to promote common development, Xi said.

He said a lot of work needs to be done in the following three aspects.

First, the two countries should make full use of the mechanism of the permanent committees between the two countries to push for the implementation of the joint action plan, and map out detailed plans for cooperation in various fields, he said.

Second, China and Mexico should strengthen political dialogue and cultural and human exchanges, and enhance communication on major international and regional issues and coordination in multilateral mechanisms.

Third, the two countries should deepen pragmatic cooperation and, in a spirit of mutual respect and reciprocity, seek a proper solution to the problems in their trade and economic relations, Xi said.

The international financial crisis is still spreading and has had a serious impact on economies around the world, Xi said.

As major developing countries, China and Mexico share similar stances and common interests in fighting the financial crisis, he said.

Therefore, he added, the two countries can maintain close contact and coordinate stances in their joint efforts to safeguard the interests of both countries and those of other developing countries while doing their utmost to curb the impact of the financial crisis.

On China-Latin America ties, Xi said mutually beneficial cooperation has reached an unprecedented level in recent years, and China is now the third largest trading partner of Latin America.

In November, the Chinese government issued a policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, which outlines the guiding principles for future cooperation between the two sides in various fields.

China is ready to work with Latin American and Caribbean countries to expand their cooperation and strive to build a partnership of all-round cooperation based on equality, mutual benefit and common development.

Calderon said the top leaders of the two countries have met 19 times on bilateral and multilateral occasions over the past eight years, which has greatly boosted the development of bilateral ties.

Mexico is among the first Latin American countries to establish diplomatic ties with China and attaches great importance to promoting friendly cooperation with China, treating China as an important partner for strategic cooperation.

Under the new circumstances, Mexico is ready to further strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China in various areas, deepen their strategic dialogue and enhance coordination and cooperation on major international and regional issues, he added.

There is much Mexico could learn from China's measures to tackle the global financial crisis, he said, adding that against the backdrop of global economic woes, Mexico is ready to work together with China to jointly meet the challenges brought about by the financial crisis.

The Mexican government always welcomes Chinese firms to trade and invest in Mexico and will try to create favorable conditions for them, Calderon said.

The Mexican president also said his country will participate actively in the 2010 World Expo to be held in Shanghai.

Xi arrived on Monday for a three-day visit to Mexico. He will also visit Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Malta.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2009)