Chinese firm to invest $2.15 billion in Mexico's energy sector

MEXICO CITY - China National Corporation for Overseas Economic Cooperation (CCOEC) is set to invest $2.15 billion in Mexico's energy sector, the company said on Friday.

CCOEC signed the $2.15-billion agreement with the government of Mexico's northern state of Durango at the 2015 China-Mexico Trade and Investment Expo and Forum, held here from Nov 10-12.

The project, in which the CCOEC will be the main investor, calls for the construction of a combined cycle plant with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts.

The plant "will be built over three different stages of 500 (MW) each," Durango's Secretary of Economic Development Ricardo Navarrete Gomez told Xinhua. "Each stage will be developed over a two-year period, generating 1,500 direct jobs."

According to Navarrete, China will finance 85 percent of the investment, with the remaining 15 percent coming from Mexican sources.

"This is quite a large investment for Durango, but it opens up future investment" possibilities, he added.

CCOEC's President Huo Xuejun said bilateral businesses in various fields have been "steadily" strengthened.

Huo said his company "is pleased with all the structural reforms Mexico has undertaken" in the past three years, especially the opening-up of the energy sector, which provides both foreign and Mexican private firms with opportunities to venture into the industry.

Bao Ronglin, the head of Zhonghua Business Owners Association, one of the forum's organizers, told Xinhua that the project, set to begin in March 2016, is certain to "lead to new jobs and economic development in Mexico."

The annual China-Mexico expo and forum brought together more than 400 companies and investors from both countries this year at Expo Bancomer exposition center of the Mexico City.

The forum highlights business opportunities, mainly in Mexico's transformation industry, mining, oil, energy, telecommunications and agriculture.