(MENAFN- Swissinfo)
Human rights protesters disrupted the recent Schweiz-Europa Forum in Lucerne that was focused on relations between the EU, Switzerland and China. Keystone / Urs Flueeler
Switzerland's foreign minister, Ignazio Cassis, is set to fly to China on Saturday to“pursue bilateral dialogue” with his Chinese counterpart. Economic ties, Covid-19 and human rights are on the agenda.
This content was published on November 26, 2021 - 10:13 November 26, 2021 - 10:13 Keystone-SDA/DFAE/sb
Cassis is due to meet Wang Yi in China's eastern Zhejiand province for talks on November 27. The talks are part of annual Swiss-Chinese ministerial meetings established in 2017 to strengthen ties, the foreign ministry said in a statementExternal link .
The annual meeting“covers many areas of Swiss-China cooperation and allows for a direct and open exchange of views”, the Swiss ministry said.
Cassis is set to present the Federal Council (executive body's) China strategy, adopted by the government in March.
“The strategy recognises China as an important partner for Switzerland's foreign policy and provides a framework for the many ties between the two countries,” the ministry said.
In 1950 Switzerland was one of the first Western nations to recognise Communist China. Since 2010 China has been its biggest trading partner in Asia and its third-largest partner globally after the European Union (EU) and the United States. A bilateral free-trade agreement took effect in July 2014.
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