Chinese Premier Meets Swiss Confederation President

Chinese Premier Meets President of Swiss Confederation

Premier Zhu Rongji expressed hope Tuesday that Switzerland would adopt a flexible attitude during the on-going bilateral negotiations on China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) so as to achieve an early deal.

In meeting with visiting President Adolf Ogi of the Swiss Confederation at the Great Hall of the People this afternoon, Zhu voiced appreciation for Switzerland's support towards China on its entry into WTO and said that an early deal would forcefully stimulate economic and trade ties.

Ogi said Switzerland expects China to be a WTO member at an early date and would continue trying to complete relevant negotiations as soon as possible.

Ogi's current visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Switzerland, an important event in bilateral ties. The Premier said Switzerland is one of the first western countries to recognize New China, and both the Chinese Government and Chinese people highly appreciate this.

Despite the tremendous changes in the world situation in the past half century, bilateral cooperation between China and Switzerland has maintained steady growth, he said, adding that China highly appreciates the Swiss Government's pursuit of the One-China Policy.

In recent years, contacts between leaders of the two countries have been frequent and mutual understanding has deepened, Zhu said, stressing President Jiang Zemin's visit to Switzerland in March last year, in particular, has accelerated bilateral ties.

Zhu said Switzerland, in spite its small size, maintains important world influence, and China has always attached great importance to its relationship with Switzerland.

He pointed out that the economies of the two countries are highly complementary, and bilateral cooperation has been successfully carried out with many cooperative projects currently underway.

China is happy and satisfied with the sound development of bilateral ties and is willing to join hands with Switzerland to further develop ties in the new century, he said.

Ogi said Switzerland is proud of being one of the first countries to recognize New China, and bilateral ties have witnessed smooth progress in the past 50 years. Especially in the 1990s, bilateral cooperation has been expanded to fields like science, technology, culture, and education, the President said, expressing satisfaction in this regard.

According to the President, Swiss enterprises have strong interest in increasing investment in China, setting up joint ventures in China and transferring new and high technology.

The Swiss Government is willing to continue efforts in strengthening existing favorable economic and trade relations with China in the new century, he said.

Ogi arrived in Beijing earlier today for a three-day unofficial visit at the invitation of the Chinese government.