BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) — China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said Friday that Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Guy Parmelin, who also heads Switzerland's Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, jointly announced the completion of negotiations to upgrade the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Bern on Thursday.

Wang said the two sides launched FTA upgrade negotiations in September 2024, and thanks to joint efforts and five rounds of consultations, the upgrade talks were successfully concluded. The two sides committed to achieving higher-standard two-way opening-up in goods, services, investment, rules and other areas, which will create new opportunities for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Parmelin said the successful upgrade is another important milestone in the development of bilateral relations. It will provide more stable, transparent and predictable institutional guarantees for the long-term development of enterprises of both countries, and send a positive signal that the two sides are advancing open cooperation, free trade, and a rules-based international economic and trade environment.

The China-Switzerland FTA was signed in July 2013 and entered into force in July 2014. It was the first FTA that China signed with a country on the European continent. Following the completion of this upgrade negotiation, the two sides will expedite their respective domestic procedures so that the upgrade protocol can be formally signed at an early date.