CIMT 2025: «Switzerland of tomorrow through your innovation»

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be here and to see so many representatives of Swiss companies holding up the Swiss flag in one of the world’s most competitive markets. I would like to thank Swissmem for setting up a Swiss Pavilion at the China International Mach­ine Tool Show, and for hosting us today. This year marks the 75th anniversary of Sino-Swiss diplomatic relations. Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China on January 17, 1950, and we officially established diplomatic ties a few months later. Our relations with China have always been marked by a pioneering spirit, in which Swiss mechanical engineering has played a crucial role. There are two historic moments of which Switzerland can be proud: In 1965, Sulzer and BBC – now ABB – signed their first license agreements with China. In 1980, Schindler set up the first foreign industrial joint venture here. These milestones have marked a significant step in China’s economic opening. Since then, our collaboration has continued to set trends: In 2013, Switzerland was the first European nation to sign a Free Trade Agreement with China. This nearly doubled the value of Swiss exports to China and increased imports by almost 60%. Today, China is our top economic partner in Asia. And since 2016, our Innovative Strategic Partnership has fostered over 30 dialogues covering trade, finance, labor, intellectual property, security, human rights, education, and scientific research. Dear Guests The current geopolitical climate is volatile and quite uncertain. Countries are re-evaluating global supply chain risks and aiming to reduce import reliance. We're seeing more export controls, protectionist policies, and industrial measures. What does this mean for Switzerland? What does this mean for our economy, which is certainly powerful and innovative, but has a domestic market of only 9 million consumers? What does this mean for our economy whose goal is to gain access to international markets and supply chains? What does this mean for your businesses? Our commitment is firm: we support the rules-based international trading system and strive to ensure broad market access for our companies. Maintaining access to the European Union's single market is crucial, as the EU is our largest trading partner – by far. Stabilizing and developing bilateral relations with the EU is a strategic imperative for the Federal Council. We strongly support multilateralism, especially the World Trade Organization, not just because it's based in Geneva, but because it includes the broadest range of countries. We're actively negotiating new trade agreements and modernize other to diversify our economic ties. This will strengthen supply chains and open-up new markets – benefiting both Swiss companies and your businesses. Last year we succeeded in concluding new free trade agreements with India, Kosovo and Thailand. Just this month, we have finalized a new free trade agreement with Malaysia. We also modernized our agreements with Chile and Ukraine. Never before have so many free trade agreements been concluded in a single year! We are also optimistic about concluding negotiations with Mercosur and Vietnam and updating the existing agreements with the United Kingdom, Mexico and the South African Customs Union. Finally, we're working to enhance our free trade agreement with China: We aim for duty-free access for all Swiss industrial products. We're seeking better investment conditions and improved sustainability provisions. We are ambitious in all these respects, because we will need to convince the parliament and very likely the Swiss people to vote «yes» for the enhanced agreement. I hope for your support in convincing the Swiss people that free trade with China enhances our competitiveness! Ladies and gentlemen The high demands of the Chinese market – in terms of speed, scale, and price – along with customer feedback, are pushing your companies to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. If you can succeed here, you can succeed anywhere! I’m confident you’ll keep turning vision into reality — forging new paths here - and building the Switzerland of tomorrow through your innovation! Thank you!