Two months after a Chinese state visit to Bern and two weeks after Switzerland and China signed a free trade agreement, the countries’ presidents met in Beijing to solidify the «strong level of development» between their nations.
«I hope this personal exchange [between presidents] will allow us to deepen and enrich the friendship between our two countries,» said Swiss President Ueli Maurer upon meeting his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
For his part, Jinping said the «strong level of development» between the countries could still be improved «through hard work».
On July 6, China and Switzerland signed a long-awaited free trade agreement that is expected to go into effect in 2014. As a result, customs duties on 93 per cent of industrial goods exported to China will be reduced or eliminated, with the exception of Swiss agricultural products. The Chinese negotiated transition periods of five to 15 years for the reduction of many customs charges.
Switzerland is one of just a handful of western countries to have negotiated a free trade agreement with the Chinese; Iceland is the only other European country to have done so. However, the Swiss parliament must still ratify the agreement.
China is Switzerland’s third-largest trading partner, after the European Union and the United States. In 2012, Chinese exports to Switzerland – mostly consisting of watches, pharmaceutical and chemical products and machinery – increased to $22.8 billion (CHF21.5 billion).