The 3rd Sino Swiss Economic Forum was held in Beijing on July 1, 2014. High-level representatives from business community, government and academia of China and Switzerland attended the meeting to explore the new opportunities the agreement will bring in strengthening bilateral economic exchange.

The day also marks the entry into force of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Swiss Confederation and the People’s Republic of China.

“Today’s high-level Sino-Swiss Economic Forum brought together outstanding minds from our two nations to explore the key strengths and new opportunities the Free Trade Agreement brings to our economic, trade and investment relations”, affirmed Swiss Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel in his welcome message. "Today is a special day for our two countries! We are here to celebrate another milestone in a prosperous bilateral economic history," added Mrs. Ineichen-Fleisch in her opening speech.

The aim of the Forum was to gather both Chinese and Swiss governmental and business representatives on one common platform to trigger new contacts, valuable exchange and fruitful business between the two countries. The overall topic – FTA: A New Chapter in Sino-Swiss Relations – explored why Switzerland and China have chosen to sign the FTA. In focusing on the “Why”, the Forum underlined the key strengths complementing both the Swiss and Chinese economic systems such as quality, innovation, competitiveness and sustainability. Each of those four overarching themes covered two panels, ranging from Intellectual Property, Investments in Switzerland and China, Food Safety, R&D, Urbanization to Innovation.

The panels were composed of more than 40 Swiss and Chinese eminent figures from business, academia and government, including among others Mr. Jean-Claude BIVER, Chairman of Hublot, Mr. Daniel KUENG, CEO of Switzerland Global Enterprise, Mr. HE Zhiyi, Chairman of New Huadu Business School, Mr. LI Tao, General Manager at TE Connectivity.

The 3rd edition of the Forum was jointly organized by the Economic Section of the Swiss Embassy and the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Swiss Global Enterprise, Swissnex China, Cleantech Switzerland and CIPA, the Investment Promotion Agency of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.