China News Service, Beijing, October 31. On October 30, my country and Switzerland signed a protocol to upgrade the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement in Beijing, marking that China-Switzerland economic and trade cooperation has entered a new stage in which tariff reductions are the main focus and that both tariffs and rules are emphasized. Since the two sides announced the launch of upgraded negotiations in September 2024, after a total of 5 rounds of negotiations in the past 2 years, the two sides have conducted in-depth consultations and reached consensus on trade in goods, rules of origin and implementation procedures, customs procedures and trade facilitation, technical trade barriers, trade in services, investment, digital trade, competition, trade and sustainable development, economic and technological cooperation, etc., further improved 8 original chapters of the agreement, and added 2 new chapters on digital trade, trade and sustainable development based on the original agreement. In the current international environment full of uncertainties, China and Sweden continue to support free trade, open cooperation and the clear stance of the rules-based multilateral trading system, providing a good example of economic and trade opening up for all countries.
The upgrade of the China-Switzerland bilateral free trade agreement has promoted the two countries to release more market opportunities for each other. At present, China and Switzerland have a basis for cooperation in medicine, health, and high-end manufacturing. Cooperation in green technology and digital services can be deepened after the upgrade of this free trade agreement. For my country, the opportunities are mainly reflected in improving import supply, supporting manufacturing upgrades, expanding exports, and conducting research and development cooperation: import tariffs on some Swiss medicines, precision instruments, and special equipment can be further reduced, which will help domestic enterprises and medical institutions improve procurement conditions, and also provide more options for technological transformation. my country's key products such as oilseed kernels, vegetable oil, and pet food will receive new tariff concessions, and the level of openness of the producer service industry will increase, which will create conditions for Chinese companies to expand into the Swiss market. On this basis, capable companies can also carry out joint research and development with Swiss scientific research institutions and professional enterprises to promote cooperation around life sciences, precision manufacturing and green technology. For Switzerland, opportunities are mainly in biomedicine, precision manufacturing, watches and professional services. With the gradual implementation of tax reduction arrangements, the tariff costs for Swiss pharmaceuticals, mechanical equipment, watches and other products entering the Chinese market will be further reduced, which will help companies expand sales. The technological transformation needs of my country's manufacturing industry also provide space for Swiss companies to combine equipment supply with debugging, maintenance, and technical support. Increased commitment to openness in areas such as finance and technical testing will help Swiss companies expand their service businesses in China and carry out local R&D and product improvements based on my country's industrial supporting and application needs.
It should also be noted that in order to turn the opportunities brought by the agreement into actual benefits, the implementation work needs to be done carefully and solidly. Tax reductions for some products need to be gradually implemented after a transitional period, and to enjoy the preferential treatment, you must also meet the requirements of the rules of origin, which is a threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises with weak document management capabilities. The Swiss market is limited in scale and has high requirements for quality and technical standards. Chinese companies still need to work hard on standard certification, brand building and after-sales service to enter the Swiss market. Swiss companies will also face more market competition when expanding in China. Therefore, after the agreement is signed, both parties should speed up the completion of domestic approval procedures and simultaneously clarify tax reduction arrangements, access conditions and processing procedures, so that enterprises can arrange procurement, investment and business expansion accordingly. Three specific steps are to be taken:
The first step is to get the agreement implemented as soon as possible. The two sides should speed up the completion of domestic approval procedures and promote the early entry into force of the protocol; after it takes effect, they should rely on mechanisms such as the Joint Committee to track implementation, so that convenient measures such as electronic certificates of origin and customs data exchange can be put into operation as soon as possible and respond to the concerns of enterprises in a timely manner.
The second step is to let enterprises know how to use it and dare to use it. Relevant departments and localities must explain the new regulations on origin, tax reduction timetable, and investment access commitments, and focus on helping industries with low utilization rates such as machinery and electrical equipment and small and medium-sized enterprises to make full use of discounts.
The third step is to make cooperation deeper and more practical. We can rely on the Sino-Swiss Economic Forum and existing dialogue mechanisms to organize business docking in the fields of medicine and health, precision manufacturing, digital economy and other fields to clarify technical needs, partners and project implementation conditions.
From the signing of the free trade agreement more than ten years ago to the completion of the upgrade of the agreement this time, China and Switzerland have continued to expand mutual opening up and have continued to consolidate the basis of cooperation through institutional arrangements. This practice shows that respecting each other's concerns and insisting on equal consultation can enable countries at different stages of development to find common interests and provide stable expectations for long-term cooperation between enterprises. The agreement has been signed. Both sides should implement the consensus into policies and actions, promote the implementation of various opening-up commitments, and expand new cooperation space on the basis of consolidating existing economic and trade ties, so that the results of the upgraded agreement can effectively benefit the enterprises and people of the two countries.
