The latest round of negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between China and Switzerland, which was held in Beijing on May 8-10, is said to have reached some consensus and made significant progress.

The two sides exchanged views on such issues as goods trade tariff reductions, trade in services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, competition policies and trade dispute remedies.

The latest round of talks is the fifth to be held since the bilateral FTA negotiations were first announced in January 2011.

China and Switzerland are important trading partners, with Swiss exports to China dominating the relationship. Total trade between them reached USD30.9bn last year, up by 54% year-on-year, and, in the first three months of 2012, it was USD6.16bn.

In the first quarter of this year, China’s imports from Switzerland were USD5.38bn, with the major imports being high-tech products, metal processing machine tools, pharmaceuticals and watches; while China’s exports to Switzerland were only USD0.78bn, largely of mechanical and electrical products, garments and footwear.

May 16, 2012

Source: Tax News

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