Q: According to Swiss media reports recently, negotiations on upgrading the free trade agreement between Switzerland and China have been frozen. What is the Ministry of Commerce's comment?
A: The China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement was signed in July 2013 and came into effect in July 2014. It is a high-level, rich in content and mutually beneficial agreement that has played a positive role in promoting economic and trade cooperation and development between the two countries. China has become Switzerland's third largest trading partner. In 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and Switzerland will be US$44.11 billion, a year-on-year increase of 96.7%.
China and Switzerland signed a memorandum of understanding in 2017, announcing the launch of a joint study on the upgrading of the free trade agreement to explore the possibility of further upgrading the free trade agreement. The level of the Sino-Swiss free trade agreement is very high. The two sides are actively promoting joint research and conducting in-depth discussions on the scope of possible upgrades. There is no situation of being frozen, and the two sides are maintaining close communication on this.