BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that it has decided to initiate an investigation into Mexico's restrictive measures that constitute trade and investment barriers against China.

The investigation became effective on Thursday, the ministry said in a statement.

The restrictive measures to be probed include the Mexican government's plans to raise tariffs on products from China and other non-free trade agreement partners, as well as its other trade and investment restrictions imposed in recent years against China, according to the ministry.

In the current context of the United States' abuse of tariff hikes, all countries should jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, and must not sacrifice the interests of third parties under the coercion of others, a spokesperson for the ministry said in response to a media query.

Should Mexico's unilateral acts of imposing additional tariffs be implemented, even within the framework of the WTO, it will not only harm the interests of its relevant trading partners including China, but also seriously affect the certainty of the country's own business environment, thus undermining enterprises' confidence in investing in Mexico, the spokesperson said, adding that China firmly opposes such acts.

The ministry's decision to initiate the investigation aims to resolutely safeguard the interests of China's relevant industries, according to the spokesperson.

The ministry will make an objective and fair ruling based on the investigation results, and will take necessary measures in line with the actual situation to resolutely safeguard China's legitimate rights and interests, the spokesperson said.