What does the optimisation of the free trade agreement mean?

The optimisation of the free trade agreement makes it possible to eliminate or reduce duties on the export of Swiss products to China.

What are the products that will be duty-free?

Watches, pharmaceuticals, machinery and chemicals will be duty-free, but this will only take effect in the medium term.

Switzerland-China: Farewell to Duties on Swiss Exports (cross-border guide)

Di Marco Ferrari · Published on 20 August 2026

Switzerland and China have concluded negotiations on the optimisation of the free trade agreement, allowing 99.8% of Swiss exports to enter the Chinese market duty-free.

Context

In a nutshell

Switzerland and China have concluded negotiations on the optimisation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). - 99.8% of Swiss exports will be able to access the Chinese market duty-free.

Key facts

What: Optimisation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
When: 2026
Where: Switzerland and China
Who: Confederation President Guy Parmelin and Chinese Trade Minister Wang Wentao
Amount: CHF 244 million

Switzerland and China have concluded negotiations on the optimisation of the free trade agreement (FTA), which will allow 99.8% of Swiss exports to enter the Chinese market duty-free. The agreement will be signed in 2026 and approval procedures will follow. The end of the negotiations was announced today after a meeting in Bern between Confederation President Guy Parmelin and Chinese Trade Minister Wang Wentao, who signed a memorandum of understanding. Once the relevant legal checks have been carried out, the two countries will prepare the signing of the agreement.

In the current FTA, almost all Chinese imports to Switzerland are duty-free, while this only applies to about half of Bern's exports to Beijing. As mentioned, the optimized understanding eliminates this imbalance.

Optimizing the free trade agreement (FTA) will result in potential savings of about CHF 244 million per year. Watches, pharmaceuticals, machinery and products

Operational details

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Key points

In order to take advantage of any benefits of the optimised agreement, the companies concerned must maintain regular communication with representatives of the Swiss authorities.

In the meantime, it is advisable to keep an eye on developments and maintain regular communication with the representatives of the companies concerned.

The preamble, i.e. the introduction to the agreement, has undergone some tweaks. China has agreed to a reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first time this has happened.

Finally, the innovations also concern rules of origin and trade facilitation, trade in services, digital trade, competition and economic and technical cooperation.

The negotiations on the optimisation of the 2014 FTA - the first stipulated by the Dragon with a European country - were officially launched in September 2024 and have now been concluded after five rounds of negotiations, underlines the DEFR.

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Source: tio.ch

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the optimisation of the free trade agreement mean?: The optimisation of the free trade agreement makes it possible to eliminate or reduce duties on the export of Swiss products to China.
What are the products that will be duty-free?: Watches, pharmaceuticals, machinery and chemicals will be duty-free, but this will only take effect in the medium term.
When will the agreement be signed?: The agreement will be signed in 2026 and approval procedures will follow.