According to the Ministry of Commerce website, on October 30th, witnessed by President Xi Jinping and Swiss Federal President Pamlan, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao signed an upgraded protocol to the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement with Swiss Federal Economic and Education Research Department Secretary of State and Director of the General Economic Administration, Brüderl.
According to the upgrading protocol, China and Switzerland will, on the basis of the original free trade agreement, jointly make high-level commitments regarding the liberalization of goods, services, and investments. They will further upgrade rules in areas such as origin, trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, digital trade, competition, trade, and sustainable development. The successful upgrading of the China-Switzerland free trade agreement will further deepen economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, providing a stronger institutional foundation for the liberalization and facilitation of bilateral trade and investment. This demonstrates the clear stance of both sides in supporting free trade, open cooperation, and rule-based multilateral trading systems, especially in today’s uncertain international environment.
In 2013, China and Switzerland signed a free trade agreement. The agreement came into effect in July 2014. In September 2024, both parties launched negotiations to upgrade the free trade agreement. After five rounds of negotiations, the two parties announced that the negotiations were completed in August 2026. After the upgrade protocol was signed, both parties will proceed with the necessary domestic legal approval processes. Together, they will work to make the upgrade protocol effective as soon as possible, so that businesses and citizens of both countries can benefit from it at an early date.
