MEXICO CITY -- Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for joint efforts from business communities of China and Mexico to expand the two countries' economic cooperation.

Both China and Mexico stand at a crucial stage of development, and the two emerging economies are complementary in such domains as resources, technology, capital and market, Xi said at a conference attended by Chinese and Mexican entrepreneurs.

He noted that China and Mexico have just agreed to upgrade their bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which creates a more favorable condition and opens up a vaster space for the development of their trade and economic cooperation.

The Chinese president urged both sides to always see each other as partner and important opportunity for development, and to strengthen China-Mexico economic and trade cooperation from a strategic perspective.

Xi said that the two countries should foster new growth points for bilateral investment in such areas as energy, mining, infrastructure and high-tech industry, while tapping the full potential of their cooperation in traditional fields.

The two sides should work in the spirit of mutual respect and mutual benefit to optimize their trade structure, resolve their differences through amicable negotiations and seek trade balance in an active manner, he said.

Xi urged entrepreneurs on both sides to work jointly to increase their mutual understanding and strengthen strategic cooperation so as to push China-Mexico economic and trade cooperation to a higher level.

Addressing the same conference, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said China is an important partner for Mexico, and the upgrade of bilateral ties to comprehensive strategic partnership has opened broad prospects for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

He said the two countries should explore new areas and new means of cooperation so as to promote a more balanced growth of bilateral trade and achieve win-win results.

Mexico is willing to create favorable conditions to attract more Chinese investment, he added.