China and Switzerland announce completion of negotiations to upgrade their free trade agreement
On August 20th, Swiss Federal President and Minister of Economy and Education, Pamland, met with Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao in Bern and jointly announced the completion of negotiations to upgrade the China Switzerland Free Trade Agreement and the signing of a memorandum of understanding. Chinese Ambassador to Switzerland Qian Minjian, Swiss Ambassador to China Ma Ting, and others attended the event.
In September 2024, China and Switzerland launched negotiations to upgrade their free trade agreement. With the joint efforts of both sides, after five rounds of consultations, the upgraded negotiations were successfully completed. Both sides promise to achieve higher levels of bilateral openness in multiple fields such as goods, services, investment, and rules, which will create new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. Switzerland is an important partner of China and has always been at the forefront of cooperation with China. In the current uncertain international environment, this also demonstrates the clear attitude of both sides towards choosing certainty and supporting free trade. This year marks the beginning of China's 15th Five Year Plan and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the innovation strategic partnership between China and Switzerland. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce is willing to work with the Swiss Federal Ministry of Economy, Education and Research to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, complete the formal signing and implementation of the upgrade agreement as soon as possible, promote the upgrading of the economic and trade relations between the two countries, and better benefit the enterprises and people of both countries.
Pamlan stated that Switzerland and China have close cooperation and dynamic economic and trade relations. The Swiss government and industry attach great importance to economic and trade cooperation with China. The free trade agreement has played an important role in the cooperation between the two countries. The successful upgrade of the agreement is another important milestone in the development process of bilateral relations, which will provide more stable, transparent, and predictable institutional guarantees for the long-term development of enterprises in both countries. It also sends a positive signal for both sides to promote open cooperation, free trade, and maintain a rule-based international economic and trade environment. Switzerland is willing to take the upgrade of the free trade agreement as an opportunity to continue expanding trade and investment cooperation with China, deepen innovative strategic partnerships, and continue to provide an open, fair, and non discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises operating in Switzerland.
The China Switzerland Free Trade Agreement was signed in July 2013 and came into effect in July 2014. It is the first free trade agreement signed between China and a country on the European continent. After the completion of this upgrade negotiation, both parties will accelerate the implementation of their respective domestic procedures in order to formally sign the upgrade agreement as soon as possible.