Latest News:  

English>>Foreign Affairs

News Analysis: China-Switzerland FTA to benefit both sides

(Xinhua)

08:54, May 26, 2013

BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Switzerland on Friday announced the completion of talks concerning a new free trade agreement (FTA), the first to be signed between Beijing and continental Europe.

A memorandum of understanding was signed during a meeting between visiting Premier Li Keqiang and Swiss President Ueli Maurer. The two sides also announced the establishment of a financial dialogue mechanism. However, they did not reveal when the FTA will be finally signed and put into place.

Xu Tiebing, an associate professor of international studies at the Communication University of China, said in a Friday report by the Beijing News that the FTA will benefit both sides.

Swiss financial businesses, including banks, will enjoy more advantages in obtaining permission to enter China, while China will be able to enter European markets more effectively by building corporate branches or joint ventures, Xu said.

Under the future FTA framework, Switzerland may help reduce trade barriers set by the EU against China, Xu said.

Cui Hongjian, director of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the FTA negotiations have set an example for future negotiations between China and other European nations.

Swiss companies in China have also been encouraged by the success of the negotiations.

Marco Cairoli, deputy president of Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a joint venture of Swiss drugmaker Roche Group, said the FTA will be very important, adding that he hopes it will go into effect as soon as possible.

Li said in a signed article published Thursday in Neue Zuricher Zeitung, a German-language Swiss daily, that with the advent of FTA, Switzerland will become the first country in continental Europe and the first of the world's top 20 economies to sign an FTA with China, adding that the implications will be significant.

He said the FTA has demonstrated that China is firmly committed to upholding multilateral trade, vigorously promoting regional trade liberalization and accelerating the implementation of its FTA strategy.

"A high-quality FTA agreement between China and Switzerland will also set a good example. It will not only upgrade our business and investment cooperation, but also send a powerful message to the rest of the world that we reject trade and investment protectionism and instead embrace trade liberalization and facilitation," the article said.

Statistics indicate that two-way trade between China and Switzerland exceeded 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, a record rise of 50 percent compared with that of 2010. Despite the persistent eurozone sovereign debt crisis and uncertainties in the world economy, bilateral trade volume remained as high as 26.3 billion dollars last year.

China is Switzerland's third-largest trading partner behind the EU and the United States, while Switzerland is China's seventh-largest trading partner in Europe.

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:ChenLidan、Wang Jinxue)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Li gives speech at luncheon in Zurich

  2. Li visits Guldenberg farm in Switzerland

  3. Taliban launches coordinated attack

  4. City lit up during Vivid Sydney

  5. Palace guests from Russia

  6. Couple say 'I do' after 35-year wait

  7. 85,000 affected by heavy rainfall in Shiyan

  8. Shanghai Disney Resort to open in 2015

  9. Children's Day celebration

  10. Christie's 2013 spring auctions kicks off in HK

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. What China-Switzerland FTA brings about?
  2. What does Premier Li's Europe visit mean?
  3. Not enough attention paid to neurological diseases
  4. Why Chinese youths appear gloomy
  5. Let taxi fare reform be fair
  6. Beijing taxi fare rise hardly seen as all-win solution
  7. Hope and concerns for civilian drone industry
  8. Exchange rate reform may take time
  9. Stricter elevator rules needed
  10. Job market not that bad for grads

What’s happening in China

Couple say 'I do' after 35-year wait

  1. China's pension insurance covers 486 mln people
  2. 9 dead, 1 missing in E China colliery flood
  3. UA insult Chinese passengers, no apology
  4. 85,000 affected as heavy rainfall hits in C China
  5. China to fight counterfeit products, piracy