Juan González de Mendoza may have been the first book published in Europe (1585) containing (an attempt at a reproduction of) Chinese characters. Here, apparently, Mendoza tries to draw the character 城 ("city"). Chinese-Mexican contacts date to the early days of the
Spanish Colonial Empire in the Americas and the
Philippines. In the 16th-17th century, people, goods, and news traveling between China and Spain usually did so through the Philippines (where there was a large Chinese settlement) and (via the
Manila galleon trade) to Mexico. The first two galleons loaded with Chinese goods arrived from the Philippines to
Acapulco in 1573. Of particular significance for the trade between the Spanish Colonial Empire and
Ming and
Qing China were the so-called "
Spanish dollars", fine silver coins many of which were minted in Mexico from Mexican silver. In December 1899,
Imperial China and Mexico formally established diplomatic relations after signing a Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between the two nations. In 1904, Mexico opened its first diplomatic mission in
Beijing and maintained a diplomatic mission in several cities where it was forced to move (
Nanjing and
Shanghai) during various wars and instability until the mission was finally closed due to the
Japanese invasion of China in 1941. In 1942, Mexico re-opened a diplomatic mission in the city of
Chongqing and in 1943 diplomatic missions between the two nations were elevated to embassies. In 1971, Mexico decided to break formal diplomatic relations with the
Republic of China (
Taiwan) after the successful passing of
Resolution 2758 at the United Nations recognizing the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations. In February 1972, the People's Republic of China and Mexico established diplomatic relations.
2009 swine flu dispute In 2009, in the wake of fears of a worldwide
swine flu pandemic, thought to have started in Mexico, relations between the two countries cooled substantially over China's decision to
quarantine some seventy Mexican citizens, despite none of them showing symptoms of the virus. The Mexican government responded with outrage and, although China imposed the same measures on four nationals from the
United States and more than twenty from
Canada; dubbed the act discriminatory. Mexican Foreign Minister
Patricia Espinosa used such terms as "unacceptable" and "without foundation", and advised compatriots not to travel to China. Despite this, a mutual desire to increase bilateral trade and increase shipping of Mexican raw materials into China suggested that diplomatic tensions would be only temporary. "This should not affect the relationship in the medium-term because we are talking about an overreaction on both sides", said
Enrique Dussel, an expert on Mexican-Chinese trade at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico in
Mexico City.
Post-2016 United States presidential election After the
election of Donald Trump, China and Mexico pledged to deepen their diplomatic ties. On 12 December 2016,
Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi met with Mexican Foreign Minister
Claudia Ruiz Massieu to discuss improving transportation and trade between their countries. In July 2019, Mexican Foreign Minister
Marcelo Ebrard paid a visit to China to give renewed impetus to trade and investment between both countries.
Relations in the 2020s In 2021, Mexican President
Andrés Manuel López Obrador apologized for his country's role in the
Torreón massacre where more than 300
Chinese Mexicans were massacred in 1911 in the northern city of
Torreón during an unprovoked act of racism towards Mexico's Asian community. In June 2022, both nations celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations. In November 2023, President López Obrador and President Xi held a meeting during the
APEC Summit in
San Francisco. In August 2025, Mexico announced that it plans to increase tariffs on imports from China. In December 2025, Mexico approved tariff increases on a range of Chinese products. ==High-level visits==