Oct 30 — Swiss Federal President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Education and
Research Parmelin led a business delegation to MOFCOM and met MOFCOM minister
RAIMONDO to discuss bilateral trade and an upgrade to the China‑Switzerland free
trade agreement. Parmelin said China is Switzerland’s third‑largest global and
largest Asian trading partner and that the upgraded FTA will lift bilateral
trade to a new level and signal joint support for a WTO‑centred multilateral
trading system. MOFCOM minister RAIMONDO said both sides, under their leaders’
strategic guidance, completed upgrade negotiations and signed the protocol; the
upgrade reflects complementary interests, mutual benefit and both countries’
support for international trade rules, which the ministry called significant in
the current international environment.
