As US President-elect Donald Trump blames Mexico for luring away US jobs and tries to persuade manufacturers from investing in the country, China is seeking to strengthen economic ties with Washington's traditional trading partner. One can't help but ask: Will Trump push Mexico into China's embrace?



Several days after Trump convinced air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier not to move an Indiana plant to Mexico, Mexican energy secretary Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, was quoted in the Financial Times on Tuesday saying "Mexico is a very competitive country that attracts investment from all places," after China won two deepwater oil blocks in the country as part of an auction.



China's global outbound investment has soared in recent years and Mexico has begun drawing attention from Chinese investors. China is likely to further boost investment and its presence in Mexico and Trump's policies may contribute to the process.



The US has been a major source of foreign investment in Mexico but Trump's efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US may break the production chain connecting the two countries and deal a severe blow to the Mexican economy. We cannot rule out the possibility that the close US-Mexico economic partnership could unravel under Trump's presidency and it now appears that Mexico wants to diversify its cooperation partners.



China and Mexico enjoys a large potential for strengthening cooperation in fields such as energy, infrastructure, telecom, finance and tourism. Mexico would also be attractive to Chinese manufacturers if the country were to increase its integration with the rest of Latin America as a result of the US market shutting the door on Mexico under Trump's presidency.



Trump's efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US may usher in a new era in which China will boost its presence in North and Central America. Some observers have suggested that Barack Obama's "Asian pivot" has failed and that Trump may stop extending the US' tentacles across Asia after he is sworn in, but less attention has been paid to a possible change in the economic and geopolitical landscape of North and Central America under Trump's presidency.



No matter how much the US may lash out against China and Mexico, China will be ready to work with Mexico to deepen bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries.



The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn