CCTV: China just announced that President of the Swiss Confederation Guy Parmelin will visit China. How does China view its relations with Switzerland? What’s China’s expectation of this visit?

Guo Jiakun: We welcome President of the Swiss Confederation Guy Parmelin to visit China. President Xi Jinping will meet with him.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of China-Switzerland innovative strategic partnership. At present, China-Switzerland relations maintain sound growth momentum, with fruitful cooperation in various areas. In particular, our cooperation on free trade has become the biggest highlight of the bilateral ties. Switzerland is the first country on the European continent to sign a free trade agreement with China. Since its entry into effect over a decade ago, the agreement has greatly facilitated the business exchanges between the two countries. In August this year, Switzerland became the first European country to complete the negotiations on an upgrade of the free trade agreement with China. China will work with Switzerland to bring more benefits to our two peoples, more convenience to our business communities, and more certainty to the growth of world economy through stable China-Switzerland relations.