China stands ready to work with the European side to uphold dialogue and consultation, tap the potential of practical cooperation, and advance the path of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, injecting valuable confidence and more certainty into China-EU economic and trade cooperation and global economic development.
On October 30, President Xi Jinping held talks in Beijing with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was on a state visit to China, and met with Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who was on a working visit. The two important events, rooted in bilateral ties and looking toward Europe as a whole, both reviewed the accumulated mutual trust in China-Germany and China-Switzerland relations and looked ahead to new space for win-win cooperation through openness — sending a positive signal of upholding dialogue and expanding cooperation.
Looking back at the development of China-Germany and China-Switzerland relations, mutual respect and win-win cooperation are key experience. President Xi noted that over the half century and more since diplomatic relations were established, China-Germany relations have maintained high-level development and the two countries have always been trusted friends and partners enabling each other's success. He expressed the hope that Germany would view China's development and cooperation with an open, positive mindset and adhere to a rational, pragmatic and friendly policy toward China, based on mutual respect and equal treatment — valuable experience for the sustained, healthy development of the relationship.
In reviewing China-Switzerland relations, Xi stressed that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two sides have adhered to mutual success and pioneering spirit, continuously interpreting the spirit of 'equality, innovation and win-win' with practical results, becoming a model of exchanges between countries of different sizes and social systems.
Both meetings were threaded with 'openness' and 'cooperation'. Xi noted that as the world's second- and third-largest economies, China and Germany bear important responsibilities for the development of China-EU relations and stable growth of the world economy, and should strengthen communication and coordination to build a new paradigm of equal, mutually beneficial and strategically stable cooperation, sending the positive signal of choosing openness over closure and cooperation over confrontation.
Switzerland has long played an exemplary role in China-EU economic and trade exchanges. Against the current of unilateralism and protectionism, free trade cooperation has become the brightest calling card of China-Swiss relations. On October 30, the protocol upgrading the China-Switzerland FTA was signed in Beijing, further deepening economic and trade cooperation. President Parmelin said the two sides completed the upgrade negotiations with high quality in a short time, reflecting a high degree of mutual trust and meeting the expectations of businesses in both countries, and will inject new impetus into bilateral relations.
Germany and Switzerland have long played important roles in China-EU economic and trade exchanges. The continued deepening of communication and practical cooperation between China and these two countries can inject momentum into stable, balanced key trade partnerships between China and Europe. Recently, some European voices have promoted a so-called 'risk theory', attempting to amplify differences and talk down cooperation. History and reality have repeatedly proven that China-EU cooperation outweighs competition and consensus outweighs differences. The essence of China-EU economic and trade relations is complementary advantages and mutual benefit; the path to mutual success is mutual respect and understanding, and the key to coordinated development is seeking common ground while reserving differences and pursuing innovation. The recent positive progress at the second meeting of the China-EU Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism shows the two sides can properly resolve economic and trade differences through dialogue and consultation.
China is now advancing Chinese modernization through high-quality development, offering new opportunities to countries around the world, including Germany and Switzerland. China stands ready to cooperate with Germany in AI, green and low-carbon development, trade in services and the digital economy to jointly enhance future competitiveness. Switzerland has always been at the forefront of European countries in cooperation with China; China stands ready to strengthen innovation cooperation with Switzerland, cultivate emerging industries such as the digital economy, green energy storage and AI, and build high-quality industrial and supply chains featuring collaborative innovation and shared benefits. China is willing to make its market a market for the world, a market shared by all, and welcomes enterprises from all countries to take root in China and share the dividends of its super-sized market.
No matter how the international situation changes, China's commitment to treating the EU as a partner and developing relations with sincerity and goodwill will not change, nor will its determination to continue providing new opportunities for the world through the new achievements of Chinese modernization.
