7 stories from 70 years of Swiss-Chinese relations

Rising up to 5,596 metres above sea level Yulong Xueshan, known in English as Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, is an eastern offshoot of the Himalayas. As iconic to China as the Matterhorn is to Switzerland, the two mountains and their neighbouring towns, Lijiang and Zermatt, are twinned. The idea of partnership between towns and regions in Switzerland and China illustrates the affinity between the two nations. In fact, the Matterhorn is not the only Swiss mountain to have a Chinese sibling. The Rigi and the Jungfrau are also twinned, with Emeishan (Mount Emei) and Huangshan (Mount Huang) respectively.

Men and women in traditional Chinese dress, selling citrus fruit at a market in Beijing, camels carrying their human and commercial cargoes across the Gobi Desert, Chinese women with bound feet, looking curiously into a camera, and a goatskin raft swept downstream by the Yellow River. Geneva-born travel writer Ella Maillart evoked scenes like these to describe her trailblazing travels through the China of 1935. That China has changed, but remains a travel destination that draws many Swiss. By the same token, Switzerland is an unmissable stop on the itineraries of many Chinese visitors to Europe.

Seventy years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and China began with a telegram. On 17 January 1950, then-President of the Swiss Confederation, Max Petitpierre, wrote to Chinese President Mao Zedong expressing Switzerland's willingness to establish diplomatic relations. These have become increasingly broad and deep in the intervening years. Despite differing political, social and economic systems, relations continue to be characterised by openness and mutual respect. They have nonetheless become more complex in certain areas in recent years, with more frequent and more evident differences in values emerging. The forthcoming renewal of the China Strategy will provide a roadmap for Switzerland to continue finding constructive approaches to these differences from 2021 onwards.

The first joint venture in China involving a foreign partner began in 1980, with Swiss lift manufacturer Schindler. It marked the start of successful business ties between the two countries that have become increasingly close in recent years. In 2007, Switzerland was the first Western country to recognise China as a market economy, and in 2013, it was the first Continental European economy to conclude a free trade agreement with the Chinese. Close trade relations reflect the growing importance of China to the Swiss economy. China is Switzerland's largest trading partner in Asia, and its third-largest worldwide. Swiss companies continue to face challenges, however, such as the dominance of state-run enterprises, technology transfer and a lack of legal certainty in some areas. These persist despite the considerable progress that has been made. Switzerland is thus working to achieve economic relations with China that are as barrier-free as possible, founded on reciprocity, a level playing field and internationally agreed norms.

At the end of the 1990s, businessman and then-Swiss Ambassador Uli Sigg amassed one of the largest collections of contemporary Chinese art in the world – helped by the general lack of demand for this style of art at the time. Mr Sigg has made over much of this collection to the M+ museum in Hong Kong, which is scheduled to open in 2021.

Switzerland and China are working together to combat the impact of urbanisation on human health and climate change in the world's third-largest country. The Sino-Swiss Clean Air China (CAC) programme, which is headed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Chinese cities. As part of the project, a Chinese-Swiss research team is developing novel methods to conduct more accurate and timely pollution source analysis in order to design more effective pollution control policies (more information). This scientific venture is only one of the many examples of cooperation in the fields of science, research and education, as reflected in more than 250 university partnerships between Switzerland and China, for example. 

To make it easier for Chinese visitors to learn to ski in Switzerland, eight Chinese ski instructors were trained at Swiss ski schools and placed in major ski areas. The project has now evolved, with one of these ski instructors joining forces with a Swiss colleague to set up his own ski school in Chongli, one of the main venues for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Three of the instructors continue to teach in Switzerland, where we now also have a promising young Chinese skier in training for the Olympics.