President of Swiss Confederation to pay working visit to China this week

President of the Swiss Confederation Guy Parmelin will pay a working visit to China from October 30 to November 1, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.

China welcomes Parmelin's visit, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with him, said Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the ministry, when asked about China's expectations for the upcoming visit at a regular press briefing.

Guo said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Switzerland innovative strategic partnership.

"China-Switzerland relations are currently enjoying sound development, with fruitful cooperation across various fields, particularly in free trade, which has become a major highlight of bilateral relations," he said.

Switzerland was the first continental European country to sign a free trade agreement with China. Since the agreement entered into force more than a decade ago, it has played a positive role in promoting bilateral economic and trade exchanges, the spokesperson said.

In August this year, Switzerland once again became the first European country to conclude negotiations with China on upgrading their free trade agreement, Guo added.

China is willing to work with Switzerland to leverage the steady development of bilateral relations to deliver more benefits to the two peoples, provide more favorable and convenient conditions for enterprises of both countries, and inject greater certainty into the development of the world economy, he said.

(With input from Xinhua)