President Jiang Zemin Wednesday said that China is fixing its efforts on trade talks with Mexico which will pave the way for China's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Jiang made the remarks when meeting his Mexican counterpart Vincente Fox Quesada in Beijing.

According to a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Fox said that Mexico supports China's early entry to the global trade body.

Mexico will adopt a more flexible approach in upcoming bilateral trade talks so that the two countries can reach an agreement at an early date, Fox said.

He was also quoted by the Chinese spokesman as saying that his country firmly believes that Mexico and China are not competitive rivalries but rather very good partners.

Mexico is the only WTO member that China still needs to reach a trade agreement with. The major obstacle for an agreement is believed to be Mexican complaints that China has dumped a lot of products to the country.

Bilateral talks were suspended towards the end of last year as both countries waited for newly-elected president Fox to complete his cabinet making.

Apart from economic cooperation, both leaders pledged to promote closer bilateral ties in other fields during Wednesday's meeting.

Jiang summed up the development of bilateral ties since 1972 when the two countries established diplomatic relations as "fruitful."

The ties have expanded from political relations to areas including economy and trade, science, technology, culture and education, said Jiang.

China is satisfied with the progress made in bilateral ties since Fox took office late last year, he added.

Fox said that Mexico attaches great importance to the development of reciprocal cooperation with China in all fields, adding that his country is willing to push all-round cooperation based on equality and mutual benefits.

Fox also pledged that his government will, as always, adhere to the one-China policy and strengthen its cooperation on human rights issues.

Mexico is not in favour of antagonism in human rights issues but rather supports cooperation, he was quoted as saying.

Fox is in China for a four-day state visit which will also take him to cities including northwest China's Xi'an and east China's commercial hub Shanghai.

(China Daily 06/07/2001)