China and Switzerland to revive push to upgrade free-trade agreement
- Announcement comes after Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Swiss President Viola Amherd on train to Bern during official visit
- Swiss nationals to gain visa-free entry to China while Swiss visa process for Chinese citizens will be streamlined
“The two sides announced the completion of the joint feasibility study on the upgrading of the China-Sweden FTA and agreed to support the launch of formal upgrading negotiations as soon as possible,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement after a meeting between Li and Swiss President Viola Amherd.
China will also unilaterally grant Swiss nationals visa-free entry, it said, adding Switzerland agreed to streamline the visa process for Chinese citizens and Chinese investors.
“China is willing to … accelerate the restart of exchanges at all levels and in all fields,” Li said.
China and Switzerland signed an FTA in 2013 and it took effect in 2014, becoming Beijing’s first such deal with an economy in continental Europe. The two sides began a joint study in 2017 to explore the possibility of upgrading the FTA.
But preliminary talks were reportedly “frozen” in mid-2022 when Bern took a more critical stand on Beijing’s human rights records.