MEXICO CITY - Authorities, diplomats and civil servants from Mexico and China met in Mexico City on Monday to discuss challenges in Mexico-China relations this year, urging further cooperation.

At a seminar at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), participants agreed that much is still left to be done despite great progress.

Lin Ji, who is in charge of business at China's Embassy in Mexico, said that important advances have been made but that more cooperation must be encouraged between China and Mexico.

Yang Zhimin, professor at the Latin American Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the two countries must work on building trust, especially through cooperation projects.

Yang noted that China is Mexico's second-largest commercial partner and that Mexico is China's second-largest commercial partner in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Enrique Dussel Peters, a UNAM professor, said that although Mexico and China have had such cooperation projects for 15 years, new projects to boost infrastructure and strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises are now needed.

Noting Mexico is lacking incentives for more Chinese companies to invest in the country, Peters said the Mexican government should cut red tape.

"This is not just a matter of good will from the public or private sectors. We must provide a real boost to investment projects," said Peters.

Abraham Zamora Torres, director of Mexico's development bank Banobras, said Mexico-China relationship is at a good stage, as evidenced by growing trade.

"We believe that the similarities between the two countries mean that Mexico and China can become partners. We see sectors where Mexico can benefit from China's advanced technology, financing and productivity," he told Xinhua.

Torres believed that Chinese companies should come to invest in Mexico, especially in energy, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

Torres said that a Sino-Mexican bilateral investment group has met three or four times a year to discuss mutual needs. Furthermore, a ministerial-level meeting is expected this year to discuss political and economic issues.