As Chinese businesses launch operations in Mexico, managers learn cross-cultural lessons
- Setting up shop in Mexico helps avoid US tariffs, but Chinese companies still must confront major concerns about labour costs, profitability and cultural differences
- The state of Jalisco awaits a decision by BYD, the global leader in EV manufacturing, whether to build a facility in the capital city of Guadalajara
In a weeds-strewn field on a 300-hectare (740-mile) undeveloped industrial land in western Mexico, tequila, local folk songs and braised pork welcomed a delegation of travellers from Shenzhen, China in February.
Dispatched by BYD, the world’s biggest electric vehicle manufacturer, the visitors were on a tour around the Latin American country looking for potential sites to build a car factory that could hire 6,000 local workers.
The land is what Centro Logistico Jalisco, the biggest industrial park in the state of Jalisco, offered BYD. And it was already equipped with a power substation, water pipes, and railway lines, all of which are essential facilities sought by industrial manufacturers.
“I think it was a nice way of imagining and dreaming about the project being on the land,” said Gabriela Martin, the park’s general manager.
For two distant countries, the attraction goes both ways. Mexico has become a hot destination for Chinese manufacturers heading overseas, and local officials in Mexico are also flocking to China, hoping to woo more investment from companies there, offering huge incentives - from tax breaks to free land.
