Chinese becomes the highest-paid language in Mexico’s job market

According to a report by Mexico’s “Expansion “magazine and “America Retail” website on November 5 , citing analysis data from the online resume design platform “CVAPP”, Chinese has become the highest-paid language in Mexico among more than 117,000 job opportunities . The average annual salary of people with Chinese skills is 251,000 pesos (about 87,000 yuan), which is far ahead of those with English skills in terms of salary and benefits.

According to the research and analysis of “CVAPP”, the average annual salary of employees with English skills in Mexico is 130,000 pesos, which is only half of the annual salary of employees who speak Chinese. Although Mexico is adjacent to the United States and English is a well-deserved key language, due to market saturation and excessive liquidity, jobs that require English are relatively cheap and ordinary, and the competition among employees has also increased. Simply knowing English is not enough to be favored. Behind the detailed data is a break from the conventional argument that “only learning English can give us another pair of eyes to see the world”, and it is also a strong proof of China’s increasingly powerful voice in international exchanges.

In recent years, China and Mexico have had increasingly close trade ties, and China has successfully become one of Mexico’s largest trading partners. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, the total trade volume between China and Mexico reached US$100.2 billion in 2023, of which China’s exports amounted to US$81.5 billion, mainly shipping electronic components, kitchen supplies, motor vehicle parts, etc., and imports amounted to US$18.7 billion, purchasing crude oil, electrical equipment, medical equipment and other products from Mexico. In July 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially stamped the “two-way rush” relationship between China and Mexico, emphasizing that China is currently Mexico’s second largest trading partner, and Mexico is also China’s second largest trading partner in Latin America.

The positive development of the bilateral economy between China and Mexico has also injected impetus for Chinese companies to invest in Mexico. Considering that Mexico has several major advantages, including a complete industrial system , obvious tariff advantages , favorable geographical location, and sufficient labor force , many big Chinese companies, including Huawei, Lenovo, Hisense, Midea, Gree, ZTE, and Foxconn, have set up production bases, R&D centers, or sales centers in Mexico. According to a questionnaire survey conducted by the large bank “BBVA Mexico” on the Industrial Park Association, Chinese companies may account for nearly 20% of the companies entering Mexico in 2025.

Trade communication between the two countries has greatly increased the value of Chinese knowledge. On the one hand, Chinese companies in Mexico need employees who are familiar with Chinese in order to better understand and absorb company policies and strategic deployments. On the other hand, in order to get rid of the curse of “cheap labor everywhere”, Mexico has invested a lot of capital in the development of emerging economic industries. At the same time, the Chinese market has favorable and innovative markets such as technology, manufacturing and energy industries. People who are proficient in Chinese and understand relevant situations are becoming professionals that Mexico is eager for.

Apart from trade and economy, the diplomatic relations between China and Mexico are also moving towards the direction of friendship and equality. Although the United States is afraid that Mexico, its “little brother”, will defect and frequently creates conflicts to sever the relationship between China and Mexico, in the face of China’s down-to-earth and reliable work style and strong industrial development, Mexico has not resolutely joined the US camp. On the contrary, it has worked hard to maintain and strive to take relations with China to a new level.

Not long after the new Mexican government came to power , there were some minor fluctuations in its stance toward China . Its Deputy Minister of Trade, Gutierrez, publicly stated that he hoped American companies would help reduce Mexico ‘s dependence on Chinese products. Once this statement was made, it cast a shadow over China-Mexico cooperation , but the bad situation did not last long. On October 17 , Mexico’s new President Sheinbaum made it clear that the relationship between China and Mexico in various fields such as trade and culture is “very good.”The various departments of the new Mexican government will also strengthen communication with China and continue to promote the development of bilateral relations , successfully eliminating the “noise” of suspicion .