China-Switzerland FTA sets example for China-EU cooperation

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and Switzerland has brought concrete benefits to both sides and set a good example for China-EU cooperation.

When meeting with President of the Swiss Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that both sides should further implement the FTA, expand two-way investment and deepen cooperation in high-end manufacturing and modern agriculture so as to benefit the two countries.

Switzerland has become China's first free trade partner in the world's 20 leading economies. Under the trade agreement, almost all Chinese exports to the European country are exempt from tariffs, while nearly 85 percent Swiss exports to China are duty-free.

There is no doubt that the China-Swiss FTA has yielded fruitful achievements. Under the FTA framework, Switzerland and its competitive industries, including medicine, machinery, watch making and tourism, benefited from the vast Chinese market.

Meanwhile, China imported cutting-edge technology from Switzerland, which helped accelerate industrial transformation and upgrade, and Chinese consumers are enjoying more tariff-free Swiss products.

According to statistics, bilateral trade rose steadily and the trade structure has been optimized. From January to November 2014, trade volume between the two countries reached 38.86 billion U.S. dollars.

The FTA between China and Switzerland serves as a model for economic cooperation between China and Europe as a whole.

China and the European union   (EU), two world economic giants, have been involved in a series of trade disputes. However, Beijing is committed to resolving economic and trade frictions through dialogue and consultations and expressed its willingness to start a joint feasibility study on a China-EU FTA.

China, which is going through a structural economic slowdown, and the EU, which is struggling for recovery, need each other.

An FTA between China and the EU, the largest trading partner of China, will definitely promote the economic development of both sides and help fuel the world economy.

South Korea has signed an FTA with the EU and Japan is also itching to get involved. Thus, it is high time for China and the EU, which together account for nearly 33 percent of the global economy, to start FTA negotiations as soon as possible to give full play to their respective advantages.

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