On May 18-19, 2017, at the invitation of the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, Professor Zhou Nianli from CIWTO attended the first meeting and industry seminar of the Joint Study of China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement Upgrade in Berne, Switzerland.

Prof. Zhou Nianli (middle), Ambassador Christian Etter, Head of Swiss Government Delegate for Trade Agreements from State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (right) and Prof. Peter Moser (left)

As the only scholar representative in the Chinese delegation, Professor Zhou Nianli gave a keynote speech titled "The Economic Effect and the Enhancement of the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement" at the Industry Seminar held on May 18th. Professor Zhou Nianli comprehensively evaluated the impact of Sino-Swiss FTA on bilateral trade, bilateral investment and consumers’ welfare. She forecasted and elaborated several directions to upgrade the FTA, including tariff reduction on agricultural products, innovation of the service trade liberalization mechanism, enhancing the market access of natural person, strengthening cooperation in the area of traditional Chinese medicine, and the introduction of new topics in trade negotiations. Professor Zhou Nianli's views received considerable attention from both Chinese and Swiss participants.

Professor Zhou Nianli presenting

After half an hour’s keynote speech, she answered a series of questions about the tariff reduction on agricultural products, the rules of origin in service, the movement of natural persons and so on. With excellent expertise and fluent English, Professor Zhou Nianli successfully fulfilled her task in this trip to Switzerland and was highly appreciated by leaders of the Ministry of Commerce.

It is an important manifestation of CIWTO’s practical actions in building a professional national-level think tank on economic development, actively providing high-quality decision-making recommendations for the Party and the nation, and serving the country's important foreign economic affairs.

Professor Zhou Nianli (left) and the head of the Chinese delegation, Deputy-General of the Department of International Trade & Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce Liang Hong (right)

Professor Zhou Nianli and some members of the Chinese delegation