A third round of negotiations has been held in Montreux, Switzerland, on a free trade agreement (FTA) between China and Switzerland.

FTA negotiations between the two countries were officially launched in Davos in January 2011, with the first round negotiation being held in April in Bern and the second round in July in Xi'an, China. Both governments have expressed their belief that the FTA would contribute to increased bilateral trade and economic exchanges, and have underlined their wish to see the negotiations proceed swiftly.

During the third round of talks, the two delegations deliberated on trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical trade barriers, dispute settlement system, trade relief measures and competition policies. Discussions were also held on investment promotion, together with cooperation on sustainable development and government procurement.

It was said that consensus was reached on a number of issues, and substantial progress was made. Follow-up work was agreed in all areas.

Switzerland is China's ninth largest trading partner in Europe, while China is Switzerland's largest trading partner in Asia. In the first eight months of 2011, Sino-Swiss trade grew by 46% over the same period of last year. In addition, Switzerland is China's sixth largest source of foreign investment in Europe.

Source: Tax News

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