Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

• 🎤 Sheinbaum to address business leaders at APEC in China: Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the president will be in Shenzhen from Nov. 17 to 19, making an appearance as the main speaker at an APEC Business Advisory Council event. She and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be the only world leaders to address the event’s plenary session, according to Ebrard. She will also hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of China, Canada, Australia and Vietnam, Ebrard said.
• 🚫 No Trump meeting in China: Sheinbaum said she won’t hold a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump during the trip, but will “probably” meet him at the G20 Leaders’ Summit at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in December. “We will seek [a bilateral meeting] if the opportunity arises,” she said.
• 📈 Plan México pitch to investors: Sheinbaum said she will tell APEC businesspeople about Plan México and how they can invest in Mexico.
• 🤝 Xi meeting “shouldn’t be a problem” for U.S. trade talks: Sheinbaum said her meeting with Xi should not affect negotiations with the United States, and that communication on trade between the two countries is constant. The bilateral trade talks follow the Trump administration’s July decision not to renew the USMCA for an additional 16 years.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Sheinbaum’s agenda in China next week was a key focus of today’s mañanera.

Sheinbaum will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in the southeastern Chinese city of Shenzhen next Wednesday and Thursday.

She announced last week that she will also attend a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On Thursday morning, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard provided an overview of Sheinbaum’s agenda in China.

He and other cabinet ministers, including Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco, will accompany the president on her trip to China, her first to Asia since she was sworn in on Oct. 1, 2024.

The focus on Sheinbaum’s upcoming trip at today’s mañanera served as a reminder that Mexico has taken a more prominent place on the international stage under her leadership than it occupied during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency. AMLO only took seven international trips during his six-year term, a number matched by Sheinbaum before she reached the two-year milestone of her presidency.

In addition to attending the APEC meeting in China next week, Sheinbaum will also travel to Florida next month to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit. At today’s mañanera, she said that her first formal face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump could take place at the latter event.

Ebrard outlines Sheinbaum’s agenda in China

Ebrard told reporters that Sheinbaum will have official activities scheduled in Shenzhen from Nov. 17 to 19.

He noted that Shenzhen is considered the technology capital of China.

“That’s why they proposed holding [the APEC meeting] there,” Ebrard said.

He announced that Sheinbaum will be the main speaker at an APEC Business Advisory Council event to be held in Shenzhen next week. Ebrard said that the council is made up of “more than 1,000 businesspeople from the 21 [APEC] countries.”

“We think that this is the most important [business] forum for … the Asia-Pacific [region] and our president is going to play a very important role,” he said.

“She will be one of the few heads of state that will address the group in the plenary session,” Ebrard said.

In fact, just Sheinbaum and Xi will address the session attended by all members of the APEC Business Advisory Council, he said.

Ebrard also announced that Sheinbaum will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of various APEC countries, including those of China, Canada, Australia and Vietnam. He said that other APEC countries have requested bilateral meetings with Mexico, and that it is “very likely” they will take place. Ebrard said that leaders of APEC countries have significant interest in “talking to the president and Mexico.”

He said that Sheinbaum will also participate in the APEC Leaders’ Meeting. Ebrard noted that the theme of this year’s meeting is “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together.”

He subsequently told reporters that 52% of foreign direct investment in Mexico comes from APEC countries. Ebrard also noted that Mexico will host the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in 2028.

No meeting with Trump in China

Later in the press conference, Sheinbaum told reporters that she won’t hold a bilateral meeting with Trump during her visit to China next week.

She said she would “probably” meet with the U.S. president during the G20 Leaders’ Summit at the Mar-A-Lago Club in Florida in December.

“We will seek … [a bilateral meeting] if the opportunity arises,” Sheinbaum said.

She emphasized that there is constant communication between Mexico and the United States on trade issues.

Sheinbaum said last week that she was interested in meeting with Trump in China.

Sheinbaum says she will speak about Plan México at business event 

Sheinbaum told reporters that she will speak about Plan México — the federal government’s ambitious economic plan — at the APEC Business Advisory Council event.

“We’re going to talk about Plan México, about what we’ve done, about what our country’s economic model means,” she said.

Sheinbaum wants to make Mexico 10th largest economy in the world with ‘Plan México’

Sheinbaum said she will also speak to businesspeople about how they can invest in Mexico.

Among the goals of Plan México are to attract more foreign investment to Mexico and to increase the use of national content in products made in Mexico’s large manufacturing sector.

“The objective of Plan Mexico is to produce more in Mexico and import less,” Sheinbaum told reporters.

Sheinbaum says her meeting with Xi won’t affect trade negotiations with US 

Sheinbaum told reporters that there is no reason why her meeting with Xi should affect Mexico’s trade negotiations with the United States.

“That we’re going to have a meeting with the president of China shouldn’t be a problem in the trade agreement negotiations with the United States,” she said.

Mexico and the United States have been seeking to resolve a range of trade differences after the Trump administration announced in July that it had decided against renewing the USMCA free trade pact for an additional 16 years to 2042.

The United States’ concerns include its large trade deficit with Mexico, Mexico’s trade relationship with China and Mexico’s energy sector rules. Mexico is seeking a reduction, if not the elimination, of U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel, aluminum and vehicles.