Chinese President Xi Jinping ended his Mexico trip Thursday with a sun-filled tour of the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, accompanied by his host Enrique Pena Nieto and their wives.

The Chinese leader's three-day visit, aimed at boosting economic ties with a resurgent Mexico, was made more notable by the starring role of his wife Peng Liyuan, a famous soprano in her home country.

Pena Nieto's wife, former telenovela star Angelica Rivera, joined the trio on Thursday's tour, in which they took in the attractions on foot after being greeted with a ceremony conducted by locals in traditional Mayan dress.

Chichen Itza, with its stepped pyramids, temples, columned arcades, and other stone structures, was sacred to the Maya and the urban center of their empire from around 750 AD to 1200. It is a world heritage site.

Xi and his wife had spent the night in Merida, the capital of Yucatan state, 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Mexico City, having earlier told lawmakers that China and Mexico "should work together" to combat global challenges.

In recent years China has expanded trade and investment ties with Latin America as the world's second biggest economy taps into the region's mineral and oil wealth to fuel its economic surge.

Beijing is also keenly interested in increasing food supply chains as it seeks to counterbalance US geopolitical heft.

By around 2016, China will overtake the European Union as the second largest market for Latin America's exports, UN data show.

Xi and Pena Nieto, who was elected last year, earlier vowed to work jointly to access international markets, most notably the world's largest economy of the United States, as part of a new strategic partnership.

Mexico is Latin America's largest economy after Brazil and it is a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) along with America and Canada.

The Chinese and Mexican leaders also pledged to work together to smooth over their long-standing rivalry on exporting products to the United States.

Xi arrived in Mexico on Tuesday after visiting Costa Rica, and following a meeting Caribbean leaders in Trinidad and Tobago.

On Friday he travels to the United States for a much-anticipated weekend summit with US President Barack Obama.