Chinese migrants to Mexico more than doubled in 2023: report

Driving the news: According to the report from Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism, the Mexican government granted temporary resident visas to 5,018 Chinese migrants in 2023, as compared to 2,062 visas in 2021 and 2,471 in 2022.

With the latest statistics, China became the third most common country of origin for migrants to Mexico in 2023, with the United States ranking first with 10,782 migrants and Columbia in second with 6,734 migrants.

Why they are moving: Some of the reasons why Chinese citizens are migrating to Mexico include its friendly immigration policies, diverse cultural landscape and economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and companies as Mexico has free trade agreements with Canada and the U.S. as part of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Another reason highlighted in the report is the lowered cost of living in Mexico compared to other Western countries like the U.S.

The big picture: The latest statistics came as the U.S. reported a surge of Chinese migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2023 and 2024.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) data, around 15,700 Chinese migrant encounters were logged during the first few months of fiscal year 2024, surpassing the total 14,600 cases from the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the CBP reported that around 37,000 Chinese migrants were detained in the southern border in 2023, approximately 10 times the number of detainees from the previous year.