2017年CRI China Swiss FTA brings benefits to Swiss small business

 

Hans-Ulrich Bigler is Director of the Swiss Federation¹ of Small and Medium sized enterprises.

He says he expects the visit by the Chinese president to usher² in a new stage in their bilateral³ relationship.

"I hope the visit can help further deepen the relations between China and Switzerland and the two countries will cement cooperation through their free trade agreement."

Six years ago, the two countries launched Free Trade Agreement talks in Davos.

They signed the FTA agreement in 2013 and put it into effect on July 1, 2014.

Official figures show that bilateral trade in the first nine months of last year exceeded 25 billion US dollars, up 9.4 percent year on year, despite a decline in China's trade with Europe as a whole in 2015.

Bigler said the FTA injected momentum⁴ into trade and mutual⁵ investment which especially benefitted Swiss SME's.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises are interested in all forms of cooperation. The FTA makes it easy for them to find cooperation opportunities. Swiss enterprises are interested in the Chinese market that still keeps growing. They see great development potential and cooperation opportunities in China. Meanwhile, we have also noticed more and more Chinese companies are coming to Switzerland."

Currently, Switzerland is China's 7th largest trading partner in Europe, while China is Switzerland's largest partner in Asia.

Bigler said the pursuit of an open economy has contributed to the win-win cooperation between the two sides and that the promotion⁶ of globalization is an area where the two countries should seek stronger cooperation.

"Switzerland has been building up an open economy. It's proven that an open economy can boost growth and employment, while protectionism will bring more losses than gains. Globalization is inevitable⁷ and can benefit any economy. China's economy is the most important one in the world. The growth of the world depends on the growth of China. China's prosperity benefits the whole world."

Bigler, who is also a member of the Swiss parliament, came to China in April last year, when then Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann paid a state visit.

As part of that trip, the two sides agreed to establish an unprecedented⁸ innovative⁹ strategic partnership¹⁰.

Bigler also suggested that besides the economy, the two countries should make greater efforts to seek greater common ground in terms of politics.

For CRI, this is Guan Chao.

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

3 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

4 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

5 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

6 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

8 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

9 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

10 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。