China’s leader Xi Jinping and Swiss President Guy Parmelin hailed a major trade deal update at a signing ceremony on Friday, removing tariffs on almost all Swiss exports to the world’s second-largest economy.
With China having put up trade barriers to many European countries and the United States in recent months, observers are eyeing the Swiss deal as a potential litmus test for other economies.
The updated agreement grants 99.8 percent of Swiss exports duty-free access to the Chinese market over the next 10 years, up from around half of Swiss shipments previously.
Duties will be eliminated on all imports of Swiss watches, of which only one percent were previously tariff-free, though producers will still have to pay China’s luxury consumption tax.
Swiss cheese and coffee, among other exports, will also see duties removed, bringing them in line with products such as chocolate and wine, which were already tariff-free.
The update also grants Switzerland greater access to the Chinese market in areas including manufacturing-related services, aircraft maintenance and maritime transport.
In exchange, the updated deal removes tariffs on 97.3 percent of Chinese agricultural exports to Switzerland, up from 80.1 percent prior.
The two leaders hailed the deal as they met to sign it in Beijing’s opulent Great Hall of the People on Friday.
“Together, we can inject valuable confidence and greater certainty into China-Europe economic and trade cooperation,” Xi told Parmelin, according to pool reporters.
The Swiss president said the deal was “a new step” and “also encompasses research, innovation, science, as well as labour-related issues.”
Swiss and Chinese officials first announced the deal in August, a year after US President Donald Trump imposed on Switzerland some of the highest US trade tariffs in Europe.
As the only country in continental Europe to have an FTA with China, observers are watching how Switzerland balances the trade deal against security and technological concerns.
“Switzerland’s approach to weighing up economic openness with resilience and security could set an example for other economies,” Selina Hanni, a Swiss public affairs specialist at the World Economic Forum, wrote in a blog.
Though Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it is a major player in the bloc’s single market through a raft of bilateral agreements.
Trade between China and Switzerland, excluding gold and other valuables, amounted to around 33.5 billion francs in 2025, according to the Swiss economic ministry.
Switzerland exported 15.2 billion francs worth of goods to China, and imported around 18.3 billion in products that year.
