Director-General of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Cai Wei recently attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the fifth Seminar on China-Mexico Relations under the theme of "50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations: Cooperation and Mutual Benefit" via video link. Secretary-General of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Zhao Qi, Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico Enrique Luis Graue Wiechers, President of the College of Mexico Silvia E. Giorguli Saucedo and Mexican Ambassador to China Jesus Seade, among others, delivered speeches at the event. Nearly 100 well-known experts and scholars from Chinese and Mexican academic communities attended the seminar online and had a lively exchange of views.

Director-General Cai Wei said that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has successfully held its 20th National Congress, setting well-conceived goals, tasks and overarching policies for the cause of the Party and the country in the coming years, and drawing a magnificent blueprint for advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. Foreign friends interested to learn more about  China and the CPC are welcome to continue to follow China’s development and share relevant stories with people of their respective countries. Cai Wei pointed out that China and Mexico are both major developing countries and important emerging markets. Over the past 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have steadily deepened exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and the tree of China-Mexico friendship has grown more exuberantly, yielding fruitful results. Mexico is a great education nation in Latin America and the Caribbean with many world-class universities that have made positive contributions to talent training and academic development in the country, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the world at large. China will continue to support the academic communities of the two countries in deepening friendly cooperation and carrying forward the friendship between China and Mexico. Cai expressed the hope that friends from all walks of life in the two countries will continue to engage in exchanges and mutual learning, and contribute their views and suggestions on the development of China-Mexico relations.

Attendees from the Mexican side extended congratulations on the successful conclusion of the 20th CPC National Congress, spoke highly of Mexico-China relations, and applauded China's achievements in tertiary education and talent training, among other fields. Both Chinese and Mexican attendees shared the view that bilateral relationship boasts broad prospects and immense potential for future development, and that the two sides should take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to further deepen dialogue between academic communities and think tanks of the two countries, and step up exchanges and mutual learning in such fields as scientific and technological innovation, poverty alleviation, and digital economy, so as to continuously enhance the traditional friendship between the two countries and the well-being of the two peoples.

The Seminar on China-Mexico Relations, an institutional platform for academic exchanges in the fields of humanities and social sciences between the two countries, has so far been held five times. Hosted by the CASS, this seminar is one of a series of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Mexico.