Xi Jinping and Swiss president sign upgraded trade accord giving Swiss exports near-total duty-free access to China
China and Switzerland are signing an upgraded free trade agreement in Beijing that will eventually give 99.8 per cent of Swiss exports duty-free access to the Chinese market.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Swiss President Guy Parmelin are signing an upgraded free trade accord in Beijing on Friday, in one of the most favourable trade deals China has granted a European country, bucking a wider global shift towards protectionism.
The original agreement has been in force since July 2014, but it was lopsided: while almost all Chinese goods already enter Switzerland duty-free, only 53.6 per cent of Swiss exports enjoy duty-free access to China, according to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Under the upgrade, 77.5 per cent of Swiss exports become duty-free when the deal enters into force, rising to 99.8 per cent after transition periods of five to ten years. SECO estimates the extra tariff savings at about CHF 244 million a year, mainly for watches, machinery and pharmaceuticals. The deal gives Chinese industrial goods no new tariff benefits.
Negotiations on the upgrade began in September 2024 and were concluded on 20 August 2026 after five rounds, making Switzerland the first European country to complete such an upgrade with China. Parmelin's working visit runs until 1 November and includes the 10th Swiss-Chinese Economic Forum, with a business and science delegation travelling with him.
The openness of the deal surprised diplomats in Beijing, and US officials sought to discuss it with their Swiss colleagues, according to people familiar with the matter. Switzerland spent months last year coping with 39 per cent US tariffs - the highest in Europe - before a provisional deal with Washington last November cut those duties to 15 per cent. The Swiss government said the China accord is not expected to affect its goods trade with the EU, the United States or other partners.
A signature is not the finish line. The Swiss parliament must still approve the agreement, a process SECO says will take at least a year, and the deal could face an optional referendum if 50,000 signatures are gathered within 100 days. No date for entry into force has been set.
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