China and Switzerland on Friday signed a protocol to upgrade their free trade agreement (FTA), a move a Chinese official said will unlock greater potential for bilateral trade and investment and deliver more innovation opportunities and development dividends to businesses and people in both countries.
Under the protocol, the two sides will make high-standard commitments to further opening up trade in goods, services and investment, while upgrading rules covering rules of origin, trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, digital trade, competition, and trade and sustainable development. The China-Switzerland FTA has played a positive and demonstrative role in deepening China-Europe economic and trade cooperation, said Chen Chao, director-general of the International Department under the Ministry of Commerce.
Trade between China and Switzerland has averaged more than 50 billion U.S. dollars annually over the past five years, and reached 89 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of this year, up 127 percent year on year, Chen said.
"Global economic growth is currently facing numerous destabilizing factors, with unilateralism and trade protectionism on the rise. The signing of the FTA upgrade protocol by China and Switzerland fully demonstrates the clear stance of both sides in choosing certainty and supporting free trade. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Switzerland innovative strategic partnership and the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). Innovation cooperation between the two countries face very broad opportunities, and the FTA upgrade comes at exactly the right time," he said.
China and Switzerland signed their original FTA in 2013, and the agreement entered into force in July 2014. The two countries launched negotiations to upgrade the agreement in September 2024 and announced their completion in August 2026, after five rounds of talks.
Following the signing, both sides will complete their respective domestic legal approval procedures and work to bring the upgraded agreement into force as soon as possible, the ministry said.
China-Switzerland FTA upgrade to unlock trade, investment potential: official
