Premier Li urges Mexico to treat Chinese companies fairly

Premier Li Keqiang urged Mexico to treat Chinese companies in a fair manner, after the country revoked a $3.75 billion high-speed rail contract signed with China's major train manufacturer.

Mexico's Ministry of Communications and Transport on Nov 6 announced it will annul deal due to public concerns about the bidding process.

Mexico revoking rail deal due to domestic factors

Li said during a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Beijing on Tuesday that the Chinese government will continue to encourage its companies to take part in infrastructure construction in Mexico and that he hopes to see concrete results soon.

Nieto said Mexico will resolve the current issues and protect the legal rights of Chinese companies.

He also said Mexico attaches great significance to cooperation with China in rail line construction, and his country welcomes Chinese companies to take part in future projects.

Li said the bidding process of the high-speed rail project was legitimate, and bilateral cooperation will be beneficial to both countries.

"China's high-speed railway technologies are safe, reliable and economically competitive," he said.

The Chinese-led consortium, including the China Railway Construction Corporation and several Mexican construction firms, won the bid a week ago to build a 210-km high-speed railway connecting Mexico City with the industrial hub of Queretaro to the north by 2017.