Chinese Goods Compete for Local Business in Mexico

DALLAS -- The influx of Chinese goods into Mexico represents major competition for local businesses, writes commentator Rocío Ortega in Dallas’ Spanish-language Diario La Estrella. The black market for Chinese goods goes unchecked and without quality control, Ortega reports.

Traditional Mexican artisan goods are copied by the Chinese and smuggled into the country illegally, she writes. China even makes copies of representations of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint. Some Mexican business owners wonder what China is doing -- that Mexico isn’t -- to compete successfully in the international economy.

The answer may stem from cultural differences, according to Ortega, but that doesn’t mean Mexico can’t learn from China’s business model and do its own copying. One group of some 200 Mexicans, calling itself the Mexican Association of Secretaries of Economic Development is attempting to do just that. Their objective: “to facilitate Mexican professionals, leaders and experts to develop trade between Mexico and China, acting as agents of change and bringing Mexico into a competitive global context.”

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