In 2014, only a year after starting production in Africa, Chinese company Time Ceramics quickly became the leading manufacturer of flooring and tiles on the continent. However, ahead of its upcoming opening in Mexico, the company already faces accusations of environmental abuse and irregular hiring of Chinese workers.
In 2023, Time Ceramics began construction of a plant in the municipality of Emiliano Zapata, Hidalgo state, with a $150 million investment and the promise to transform the region, Mexican daily Milenio reported on June 7. This new plant will have facilities spanning more than a kilometer, making it one of the largest in Latin America.
“Once again, we’re seeing the recurring pattern of Chinese investments in Latin America,” Euclides Tapia, a senior lecturer in International Relations at the University of Panama, told Diálogo on June 14. “Mexico is another example of the questionable practices that characterize Chinese companies’ operations in the region.”
Vital liquid
According to Mexican daily El Universal, the company dug wells without permits from the National Water Commission (Conagua), extracting more than 2,000m³ of water, affecting the region’s inhabitants.
In early February, farmers in Hidalgo’s Apan Valley, filed a complaint with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, highlighting unauthorized water extraction, the environmental impact, and stressing on the harmful situation for Mexican companies due to unfair competition.
The farmers presented documentation including the response from Conagua, confirming that the Chinese company did not have authorization to use groundwater, Mexican magazine Proceso reported.
They also provided photos of the excavation of two water wells and the destruction of forest on the property, which constituted an illegal change of land use. According to the responses from public entities such as the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) and the Federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa), there is no environmental impact statement or request for a change in the use of forest land, Proceso reported.
According to Proceso, the Tecocomulco aquifer, under the land where the factory is being built, has limited groundwater availability. Increased activities would lead to overexploitation, exceeding the maximum sustainable volume, and affecting the flow of rivers and springs. This situation would jeopardize the balance of the aquifer, environmental sustainability, and water supply for the population and agriculture.
“The water issue represents the vulnerability of the region faced with Chinese investments given their indiscriminate use of water resources, which leads to displacement of local people from their communities,” Tapia said. “Local authorities prioritize the immediate profits offered to them by Chinese capital, without considering the long-term repercussions.”
In early June, the CEC Secretariat determined that the submission failed to meet certain criteria and terminated the process.
Chinese immigrants
In late January, during an operation in Emiliano Zapata at the location of Time Ceramics, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office found that of the 148 Chinese immigrants working for the Chinese company 39 did not have proper working papers. They were turned over to the National Migration Institute.
“The 148 Chinese workers arrived in Hidalgo in mid-2023 to install the production line at Time Ceramics,” Mexican media outlet N+ reported in February. “Since then, they have been housed by the company in a hotel, where they spend most of the day. Only one group goes out twice a day for food.”
“China often smuggles Chinese nationals into the region, often in collaboration with certain local authorities,” Tapia said. “While they accept local labor for some cases, they do not allow the entry of skilled workers needed for infrastructure, as Beijing does not offer technology transfer. This discrimination affects Mexican workers.”
Mexican handicrafts are an integral part of the country’s cultural heritage. Craft production not only has an economic value but also a symbolic and cultural value, which is influenced by technological innovations and socio-cultural changes, reports the Spanish platform Gazeta de Antropología. “Artisans are constantly developing new techniques and designs to maintain the relevance of their products in the market, but unfair competition with [Chinese] industrial products could lead to the loss of traditional techniques and knowledge, affecting the cultural identity of artisan communities.”
Labor rights
On May 7, some 200 Mexican workers of Time Ceramics protested the reduction of their wages from $130 per week to $98, demanding labor justice and revision of contracts to avoid loss of seniority, which they consider a violation of their labor rights, El Sol de Hidalgo reported. They also denounced a lack of safety equipment and slave-like treatment.
“We don’t know what the working conditions are like in China, but here, the more than 400 Chinese workers are working in inhumane conditions. Maybe that’s why they want to treat us the same way, pulling us and shouting at us; but in Mexico our rights must be enforced,” a Mexican worker told El Sol de Hidalgo, preferring anonymity for safety reasons.
Dependency
“Mexico’s geography makes it a key point for China, which prioritizes it because of its privileged access to immense markets with high purchasing power, such as the United States and Canada. Mexico is a privileged investment location for the Chinese thanks to the free trade agreement with these two powerful nations,” Tapia said. “From Mexico, Beijing can directly or indirectly infiltrate these markets.”
The strategy behind this is to avoid tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese imports, Mexican daily El Economista reported. According to Tapia, “Mexico must understand that Chinese investments seek to establish themselves in strategic countries, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, generating dependence and eventually economic control in strategic areas.”
