Dragon Mart

Dragon Mart.

China has announced plans to open a dragon mart in Cancun, Mexico, which is expected to increase trade between the two countries. It will be the second dragon mart to open outsideof China, the first being a highly successful venture that opened in Dubai in 2004. 
The Chinese government will invest 10 billion yuan, which equates to around $1.54 billion in US dollars, and willretain a 40% stake in the project, followed by the Mexican and US governments, which will each have a 30% stake. The Cancun Dragon Mart is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s foreign tradedevelopment bureau, and will take up around 283,600 square meters of space, housing a shopping area, warehouse space and residential communities. 
The project will take between five and seven yearsto complete, but the first phase will be open in the fall of 2012 and China expects to find huge business opportunities in Mexico. There are already more than 1,700 enterprises from China that haveexpressed interest, including those that sell electronic products, building materials, medical instruments, textiles and home appliances.
Also of note, the value of Chinese exports to Mexico is alreadyon the rise, up 34.16% to $23.9 billion over the last year. In addition, Mexican exports to China are also growing, hitting $9.39 billion in 2011, which is an increase of around 36.3% over theprevious year.
According to a report last month by Reuters, 2011 saw a record $31.65 billion in bond investments flowing into Mexico’s local currency debt instruments, the central bank announced. This isdue in large part to global investors looking for a safe place to invest following Europe’s ongoing economic crisis. 
Compared to 2010, the total amount invested in peso debt rose 37% when foreigninvestors contributed around $7.547 into the market during the last quarter of 2011. This is the most that has been invested since the first quarter of 2011, and so far 2012 is seeing the same trend...