Switzerland and China Reach New Trade Deal

Switzerland and China have completed negotiations on an updated free trade agreement that will allow 99.8% of Swiss exports to enter the Chinese market duty-free.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao announced the conclusion of the talks on Thursday following a meeting in Bern.

Under the existing free trade agreement, which took effect in 2014, only about half of Swiss exports to China enter duty-free, while almost all Chinese exports to Switzerland are already exempt from tariffs.

The updated agreement also covers trade in services, digital trade, competition, trade facilitation and economic and technical cooperation.

China is Switzerland’s third-largest trading partner after Germany and the US. Bilateral trade has grown from 31.7bn Swiss francs ($39.6bn) in 2015 to 51.2bn francs ($64bn) last year.

The agreement is expected to be signed later this year after a legal review, before undergoing domestic approval in both countries.

(tasr, dpa)