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The official working visit by Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang comes as Switzerland and China celebrate 75 years of bilateral relations. After meeting federal councillors Guy Parmelin and Ignazio Cassis in Bern, Mr Ding will go on to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.
China is currently Switzerland's third-largest trading partner, with a bilateral trade volume of CHF 33 billion, increasing to CHF 59 billion when trade in precious metals is included. Switzerland was the first country in continental Europe to sign a bilateral free trade agreement with China; this came into force on 1 July 2014. Improving the FTA to take account of the changes that have occurred over the last decade was one of the main topics discussed at the meeting in Bern. Vocational education and training, student mobility and the organisation of the higher education system in Switzerland and China were also on the agenda.
On the diplomatic front, since 2016 Switzerland and China have enjoyed strong ties via their ‘innovative strategic partnership', which features regular annual exchanges including high-level strategic dialogues between their foreign ministers. The human rights dialogue was also addressed during the meeting, and Switzerland expressed its concerns about the situations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. The discussions also covered broader international cooperation through the United Nations and World Trade Organization, as well as pressing global issues such as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and developments on the Korean Peninsula.
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