Wang: China, Switzerland must work together to uphold multilateralism, free trade

China and Switzerland should jointly address the challenges of anti-globalization, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all nations, as well as uphold the international economic and trade order and fundamental norms of international relations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

He made the remarks when meeting with Swiss Federal Councilor and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who is on a work visit to China, in Beijing.

Facing the current uncertain and unstable international situation, China and Switzerland, as firm supporters of multilateralism and free trade, must not allow the world to regress to the law of the jungle, Wang said.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties. Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with China.

Wang emphasized that the two countries should maintain high-level exchanges, continue to treat each other with mutual respect and equality, transcend differences, and enhance cooperation.

He called for accelerating the upgrade negotiations of the free trade agreement and making good use of various dialogue mechanisms to build greater consensus for cooperation.

China welcomes more Swiss companies to invest and operate on its soil, Wang said, hoping that Switzerland will continue to provide an open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises.

In response, Cassis underlined the need for the international community to consolidate solidarity to jointly defend multilateralism and free trade, and uphold an international order based on rules and the rule of law,

Switzerland is willing to strengthen communication with China in this regard and work together to tackle global challenges, he added.

Cassis expressed the country's readiness to uphold a rational and pragmatic attitude to strengthen cooperation, maintain close high-level and all-round exchanges, speed up negotiations on upgrading the bilateral free trade agreement and expand mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields with China.

Both sides also had an in-depth exchange of views on international and regional issues of common concern, such as the Ukraine crisis and the situation in the Middle East.