China–Switzerland relations

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China–Switzerland relations
Map indicating locations of China and Switzerland

China
Switzerland

China–Switzerland relations officially began in 1918.[1] Although relations economically have been good, they have been strained since the Hong Kong National Security Law in June 2020. Despite this, they have worked together.

History[]

Among the first Swiss visitors to China were Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century. Their watches were popular with the Qing court and as a result a few Swiss watchmakers began exporting watches to China. However, it was only with the popularity of chinoiserie in the 18th century that economic interest in China spread in Switzerland. [2][3] In the 19th century, Swiss merchants and missionaries profited from informal imperialism in Switzerland and enjoyed the consular protection of other powers. Although the Swiss media tended to be criticial of Western imperialism in China, even during the Boxer Rebellion and the Communist victora in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, most newspapers ignored Swiss involvement in it. With the establishment of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Republic of China in 1918, Swiss citizens were officially entitled to extraterritoriality and they formed part of the foreign community in the Chinese treaty ports, enjoying the same privileges as citizens of the imperial powers in China. Swiss exports to China included pocket and wrist watches, indigo, and textiles, while imports from China were dominated by silk and foodstuffs. After the Second World War, Swiss criticism of the Nationalist regime increased. Switzerland relinquished extraterritorial privileges in 1946 but relations between the two nations were distant, and Switzerland was more interested in protecting its economic interests in China than in supporting the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War. As a result, the Swiss government was the fifth Western nation to recognize the PRC on 17 January 1950.[4][5]

Bilateral relations[]

The embassy of China in Bern. China also has a diplomatic mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva and the other international organisations in Switzerland.

Until China established diplomatic relations with France in 1964, Switzerland was the only country in central and southern Europe to have a Chinese Embassy. As a result, the PRC's Embassy in Bern and the Consulate in Geneva were in charge of China's political and economic relations with France, Italy, Germany, and other countries.[6] Sino-Swiss economic relations have accelerated since Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms in the late 1970s.[4] Switzerland's trade with China is not in deficit as other industrialized nations trade with China. Two way trade between the two countries is growing at an annual rate of 20–30 percent.[7] In 2007, Swiss exports were valued at 5.4 billion Swiss francs or 5.36 billion US dollars.[7] China is now Switzerland's top trading partner in Asia, ahead of Japan.[7]

Swiss firms have been investing in China substantially over the last decade. There are approximately 300 Swiss firms with more than 700 branches operating in China with a total employment of 55,000 people.[4] Chinese firms have a small but growing presence in Switzerland as a base to expand in Europe.[7] Chinese firms are not only entering markets for basic consumer goods such as textiles and shoes but also for chemical intermediates, pharmaceuticals, high technology parts, and telecommunications.[7]

In May 2013, during his official visit to the alpine nation, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed the first free trade agreement between the two countries worth more than 26 billion. Direct exports from Switzerland to China account for 22.8 billion in that deal, which was heralded as a "real milestone" by then Swiss President Ueli Maurer. Switzerland has a positive trade balance with China, and both countries are expected to profit from export guarantees, protection of intellectual property and financial cooperations between their largest banks.[8] Switzerland thus became the first continental European country[9] and the largest economy to conclude a free trade deal with China.[10][11]

In January 2015, during the World Economic Forum, the Swiss National Bank and the People's Bank of China signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of renminbi clearing arrangements in Switzerland.[12]

2020[]

In June 2020, Switzerland openly opposed the Hong Kong national security law.[13]

In September 2020, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service wrote that:[14][15]

The gap between the Western liberal model and China's authoritarian state capitalism will widen further. Reports on the regime's propaganda, disinformation campaigns, censorship and severe repression of its opponents in Hong Kong and ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang mark the growing international perception of the threat posed by China.

In October 2020, Switzerland signed a joint statement on the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the recent developments in Hong Kong, delivered by Germany and denouncing China.[16]

2021[]

In August 2021, Chinese state media outlets including CGTN, Shanghai Daily and Global Times had cited a so-called Swiss biologist Wilson Edwards as saying "the US is so obsessed with attacking China on the origin-tracing issue that it is reluctant to open its eyes to the data and findings". Swiss embassy in China responded by saying he likely did not exist, as there was no registry of a Swiss citizen with the name "Wilson Edwards" and no academic articles under the name.[17]

Economic ties[]

  • Chinese exports to Switzerland

  • Swiss exports to China

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Yufang Zhou, Die Exterritorialitätsrechte der Schweiz in China (1918–1946), Frankfurt am Main und Bern 2003
  2. ^ Stephan Steinmann, Seldwyla im Wunderland: Schweizer im alten Shanghai (1842–1941): Eine Untersuchung ausländischer Präsenz im China der Kapitularverträge, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Zurich, 1998
  3. ^ Yvonne Boerlin-Brodbeck, “Chinoiserien in der deutschsprachigen Schweiz”, in: Paul Hugger (ed.), China in der Schweiz: Zwei Kulturen in Kontakt, Zürich, 2005, pp. 27-40.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Ariane Knüsel, Framing China. Media Images and Political Debates in Britain, the USA and Switzerland, 1900–1950, Farnham 2012. https://www.routledge.com/Framing-China-Media-Images-and-Political-Debates-in-Britain-the-USA-and/Knusel/p/book/9781138109292
  5. ^ Official diplomatic telegram on 17 January 1950 from President of the Swiss Confederation, Max Petitpierre, to Mao Zedong in the Dodis database of the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
  6. ^ Ariane Knüsel, "Small Country-Great Importance: Switzerland and the Chinese Presence in Europe during the 1950s and 1960s" https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004388123/BP000004.xml"
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Two-way trade blossoms with China
  8. ^ Swiss free trade deal underscores China's globalisation: Li Archived 16 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine haveeruonline (retrieved 26 May 2013).
  9. ^ First European country after Iceland according to "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (page visited on 25 January 2015).
  10. ^ China seals first free-trade deal with Switzerland, BBC News, 24 May 2013 (page visited on 25 January 2015).
  11. ^ Marc Lanteigne, "The Sino-Swiss Free Trade Agreement"[permanent dead link], Center for Security Studies (CSS) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, 24 May 2013 (page visited on 25 January 2015).
  12. ^ "Fresh progress in China-Switzerland financial cooperation", press release of the Swiss National Bank, 21 January 2015 (page visited on 24 January 2015).
  13. ^ Lawler, Dave (2 July 2020). "The 53 countries supporting China's crackdown on Hong Kong". Axios. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  14. ^ (in French) Swiss Federal Intelligence Service, "La sécurité de la Suisse 2020", September 2020 (page visited on 14 November 2020).
  15. ^ Frédéric Koller (14 November 2020). "Quelle stratégie suisse envers la Chine ?". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  16. ^ Joint Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Xinjiang and the Recent Developments in Hong Kong, Delivered by Germany on Behalf of 39 Countries, United States Mission to the United Nations
  17. ^ "Swiss embassy urges Chinese media to remove articles about scientist". BBC News. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.

External links[]

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