Mexico and China signed a memorandum of understanding on September 7 to cooperate on artificial intelligence, supercomputing, robotics, and e-mobility. The agreement was signed by the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation (Secihti) and China's Ministry of Science and Technology.
The agreement was finalized at the Ninth Meeting of the Science and Technology Subcommission of the Mexico-China Binational Commission, co-chaired by Secihti Director Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez and China's Minister of Science and Technology, Yin Hejun. Excélsior reported that this is the first time since 2004 that the Subcommission had the direct participation of China's minister. Yin Hejun noted that cooperation between the two countries is part of a diplomatic relationship spanning more than five decades, and called for deepening it in the face of challenges such as the technology gap and energy needs. The collaboration has prior precedents, including joint research between UNAM and the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences on biological pest control. For the Mexican scientific community, the memorandum opens channels for researcher mobility, academic exchange, and joint funding for computing projects.
The memorandum, grounded in the principles of reciprocity, equality, and mutual benefit, calls for expanding collaboration between higher-education institutions and businesses through conferences, workshops, forums, and the transfer of advanced technologies, according to La Crónica de Hoy. Among the strategic projects Mexico put forward, the National High-Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence Cluster stands out, aiming to coordinate and interconnect the country's main computing infrastructures and make them available to the scientific community. The agenda also includes e-mobility, chip design, and early-warning systems for extreme climate events. "We have a history of cooperation, but above all we have an agenda for the future," said Ruiz Gutiérrez.
With the memorandum, Mexico and China aim to steer cooperation toward concrete projects, with emphasis on innovation, talent development, and strategic technologies. The supercomputing cluster that Mexico flagged as a priority is the project to watch over the coming months.
This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.