On the sidelines of President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Switzerland, Minister Gao Hucheng held a meeting with Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, Swiss Federal Councilor and Minister of Economic Affairs, Education and Research on January 15. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening cooperation in various fields under the framework of innovative strategic partnership. Also attending was Chinese ambassador to the WTO Yu Jianhua.
Gao Hucheng said Switzerland and China confirmed the innovative strategic partnership in 2016. President Xi Jinping’s visit to Switzerland is the first visit to Switzerland by Chinese top leader since the new century and also the first state visit in 2017, reflecting China’s high attentions to China-Switzerland relations. MOFCOM would like to join efforts with Swiss Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Education and Research to strengthen pragmatic cooperation in trade and economic field and implement the achievements of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Switzerland under the guidance of China-Switzerland innovative strategic partnership.
Gao Hucheng said Switzerland established trade and economic relations with China earlier than other European countries and was one of the founding members of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The two countries could complement each other’s advantages through innovation and cooperation under the “Belt and Road” initiative. China-Switzerland FTA has played an active role in deepening bilateral trade and economic cooperation since it s implementation two years ago. The signing of MOU on launching joint study on FTA upgrading will further discuss expanding cooperation in trade in goods, trade in service and two-way investment. China would like to strengthen cooperation with Switzerland in finance and green economy and support Guizhou province to expand cooperation with Switzerland.
Schneider-Ammann said Switzerland expects the fruitful results during President Xi Jinping’s visit and would like to conduct comprehensive cooperation with China under the framework of innovative strategic partnership. At present, Switzerland-China trade and economic relations are at a high level and the implementation of FTA further intensifies bilateral trade and economic relations. “Belt and Road” initiative will raise Europe-China connectivity remarkably and Swiss business takes an active role in the “Belt and Road” construction. Switzerland expects to carry out win-win cooperation with China in finance, green economy areas and will support its federal states, associations and enterprises to cooperate with Guizhou province.
