(Source: China Business News, 2024-09-25)
According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, on September 23, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Swiss Federal Councilor and Minister of Economics, Education and Research Parmland jointly announced via video that China and Switzerland had officially launched negotiations to upgrade the free w88 agreement. The two sides agreed to work together, intensify consultations, and reach a high-level upgrade agreement as soon as possible on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win results.
According to the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement was signed in July 2013. It is the first bilateral free w88 agreement (FTA) signed between my country and a country in continental Europe. On July 1, 2014, the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement officially came into effect. In January 2017, China and Switzerland announced the launch of a joint feasibility study on upgrading the free w88 agreement. In January 2024, China and Switzerland announced the completion of a joint feasibility study and agreed to formally launch upgrade negotiations as soon as possible.
Wang Wentao said that since the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement came into effect 10 years ago, it has played a positive role in promoting the growth of bilateral w88, and enterprises in both countries have truly benefited. Upgrading the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement will help further expand bilateral w88 and promote two-way investment, and promote the upgrading of economic and w88 cooperation between the two countries. Especially in the current context of economic globalization encountering countercurrents, it will send a positive signal to the outside world that the two countries support free w88 and open cooperation.
Yan Shiqiang, associate researcher at the European Institute of the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, said in an interview with China Business News that the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement is a high-quality, rich-connotation, mutually beneficial and win-win agreement. In the 10 years since the agreement came into effect, it has played a positive role in promoting the growth of bilateral w88, and enterprises in both countries have truly benefited. At present, the tariff reduction arrangement between China and Switzerland has been basically completed, and about 90% of the tax items of each other's products have achieved zero tariffs, creating favorable conditions for enterprises of the two countries to expand mutual exports. "China and Switzerland have officially launched negotiations to upgrade the free w88 agreement, and will further negotiate a higher-level upgrade agreement based on the existing free w88 agreement, which is of great significance to both countries," Yan Shiqiang said.
What are the results of the China-Switzerland FTA in the past ten years
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, the total import and export w88 between China and Switzerland in 2023 will be 416.93 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9%. Among them, China's largest exports to Switzerland are mechanical and electrical products and chemical industrial products. China's most imported items from Switzerland are "jewelry, precious metals and products; imitation jewelry; coins" and "optical, medical and other instruments; clocks and watches; musical instruments", etc. From January to August this year, the bilateral w88 volume between China and Switzerland reached 326 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.2%.
According to the "China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement - 2023 Academic Evaluation Report (10th Anniversary Edition)" co-authored by the w88 casino and other institutions, the core of the Sino-Swiss FTA is product tariff concessions. During the report evaluation period (2018-2022), the overall utilization rate of the Sino-Swiss FTA increased by 13%, from 58% to 71%. Swiss companies saved a total of US$220 million in 2022, much higher than the US$70 million in 2018.
The report found that among Swiss exports to China, products totaling about US$4 billion already enjoy zero tariffs, accounting for 25.1% of total exports to China. The agreement utilization rate in many key industries has increased significantly. For example, the Sino-Swiss FTA utilization rate in the Swiss watch industry has increased from 91% in 2018 to 93% in 2022, the machinery industry has increased from 39% to 59%, the electrical equipment industry has increased from 31% to 45%, and the jewelry industry has quickly jumped to 67%.
In addition to w88 in goods, the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement also covers w88 in services, investment and technical cooperation in many fields. The report stated that since the FTA came into effect, the scale and depth of China-Switzerland service w88 have been significantly improved, especially in the fields of financial services, intellectual property royalties, and information technology services.
In this context, Li Siqi, associate professor at the China World w88 Organization (WTO) Research Institute at the w88 casino, told China Business News that whether it is goods w88 or investment, the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement still shows broad room for upgrades. She said: "Although 90% of tax items have now achieved zero tariffs, there is still the possibility of further expanding the list of zero-tariff products. The w88 structures of China and Switzerland are highly complementary, so expanding the scope of zero-tariff exemptions will be very beneficial. In terms of investment, the current China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement adopts a positive list model, while China has launched a negative list management model for foreign investment access. We can also incorporate this high-level openness experience into the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement."
Yan Shiqiang believes that the current upgrade of the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement demonstrates my country’s unswerving determination to expand opening up to the outside world. "The launch of negotiations to upgrade the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement is a practical measure to implement the important deployment of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. By upgrading the Free w88 Agreement, China and Switzerland will further expand mutual openness, create more favorable and convenient conditions for enterprises of the two countries to carry out w88 and investment cooperation, give full play to the comparative advantages of the two countries, and promote the in-depth integrated development of industrial and supply chains," Yan Shiqiang said.
Li Siqi also believes that in the context of the current challenges faced by global economic globalization and the rise of protectionism, China and Switzerland have sent a signal to actively promote economic and w88 cooperation and support free w88 through upgrading negotiations on the free w88 agreement. This reflects the determination of the two countries to build an open, transparent and standardized international economic and w88 cooperation system, and has multiple positive significance.
The room for upgrade is still vast
Pamlan said that China and Switzerland efficiently reached a win-win free w88 agreement in 2013, creating abundant benefits for both parties. With global w88 protectionism on the rise, it is of great significance for China and Switzerland to launch free w88 agreement upgrade negotiations. It shows that the two countries are always committed to building an open and standardized international economic and w88 cooperation environment, and sends a positive signal to the outside world that the two countries will deepen cooperation. I believe that with the joint efforts of both parties, the upgrade negotiations will be successful.
Pamlan told China Business News at a press conference in July this year that there are many areas worthy of discussion and advancement in the upgrading negotiations of the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement, such as market access and e-commerce. "In these areas, we and the Chinese government have reached many consensuses and hope to have further consultations on this," he said.
“In the past ten years, we have seen many tariff barriers and barriers to entry being gradually eliminated or improved, but some barriers still exist. I think we should further work to reduce and eliminate these barriers, such as those related to the watch industry and machinery industry. Barriers. "Ten years ago, we rarely talked about e-commerce, but now it is developing very rapidly, especially under the WTO framework. We hope to reduce some barriers in the e-commerce field through negotiation."
Yan Shiqiang said that China and Switzerland will further improve the openness of the goods w88 market between the two countries through free w88 agreement upgrade negotiations, promote the inclusion of more products in the zero-tariff list, and expand service w88 and investment market access. At the same time, the two sides will jointly formulate new high-standard economic and w88 rules in areas such as digital economy, green economy, and competition policy.
Li Siqi told China Business News that everything from service w88 and market access for investment to the digital economy and green economy, which are currently attracting much attention, may be covered in the upgrade negotiations.
She believes: "China has signed a number of high-level economic and w88 agreements after the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement. For example, in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), the service w88 and investment chapters reflect the content of docking international high-standard economic and w88 rules. Switzerland as a It is a highly open economy with rich experience in signing free w88 agreements. In addition to w88 in goods, the China-Switzerland Free w88 Agreement also has a lot of open space in areas such as service w88, investment, digital economy, and green economy. This upgrade negotiation is an opportunity to incorporate the open experience of both parties into the free w88 agreement.”
As for the e-commerce mentioned by Pamlan, Li Siqi said that China has an open attitude and experience in the field of e-commerce. "We already have some experience in the field of e-commerce (rule making). For example, RCEP includes e-commerce content. At the same time, at the 13th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, China also agreed to extend the temporary exemption of tariffs for electronic transmissions to the next ministerial conference. In addition, China is also an active participant in the joint statement on e-commerce issued by the WTO."
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