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Christie off on Mexican trade mission Wednesday

Gov. Christie's three-day trade mission to Mexico will begin Wednesday with an agenda that includes a meeting with President Enrique Peña Nieto, receptions with business leaders, and a trip to a Mexican state with New Jersey connections.

Gov. Christie's three-day trade mission to Mexico will begin Wednesday with an agenda that includes a meeting with President Enrique Peña Nieto, receptions with business leaders, and a trip to a Mexican state with New Jersey connections.

Christie, who is leading a state delegation to Mexico City, said his goal is to strengthen New Jersey's relationship with Mexico, which is its second-largest trading partner and has a growing presence in the Garden State. The number of residents of Mexican descent in New Jersey has doubled in the last decade to more than 217,000.

The trip also comes as the Republican governor considers a possible 2016 presidential bid.

In a news briefing last week, Christie said the idea for the trip came about a year ago when he met Peña Nieto at the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

"We had a lengthy conversation, and a good one," Christie said. He said Peña Nieto invited him to visit.

Christie is expected to meet with Peña Nieto on Wednesday night, along with Mexico's secretary of energy. The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Tony Wayne, will host a reception that evening, with business leaders from Mexico City invited.

Earlier Wednesday, the governor will meet with Wayne and give keynote addresses at an investment symposium sponsored by Choose New Jersey, a privately funded but state-supported organization that markets New Jersey, and at an event focused on the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, the governor's office said.

On Thursday, Christie is to meet with chief executives of Mexican companies, Mexico's secretaries of finance and the economy, and the head of a group that seeks to build Mexico's role in the international economy. He will also participate in an event related to higher education, his office said.

Thursday night will include a reception with businesses and a working dinner with Mexico's secretary of foreign affairs, whose topics will include the energy and pharmaceutical industries. Nearly half New Jersey's $2.18 billion in exports to Mexico last year were in pharmaceuticals.

For the last day of the trip, Christie will travel to the Mexican state of Puebla. Many of New Jersey's residents with Mexican roots are from Puebla, and Christie "wanted to make sure this was incorporated" into the trip, said Amy Cradic, Christie's deputy chief of staff for policy.

Also that day, Christie is to meet with the governor of Puebla, visit a local school, and attend a luncheon with the Mexican counterpart to the U.S. National Governors Association.

Christie said the mission would benefit New Jersey, and be "a really interesting and exciting trip for me, and the folks who are going to travel with me."

By Monday evening, the governor's office had not said who would travel with Christie. The group is expected to include business leaders and higher-education officials.

The delegation costs will be covered by Choose New Jersey, and security-related costs will be reviewed by the state at the end of the trip, Christie's office said. Choose New Jersey did not have an estimate last week for its costs.

The trip will be Christie's second foreign trade mission as governor. He traveled to Israel in 2012.