Swiss and Chinese reach agreement on updated free trade deal

ZURICH, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Switzerland and China have completed negotiations on an updated free trade deal which will increase Swiss access to its third biggest trading partner, Swiss officials said on Thursday.

Swiss president Guy Parmelin and China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao announced the conclusion of the talks after a meeting in Bern.

Under the agreement, 99.8% of Swiss exports can enter the Chinese market duty free, upgrading an existing deal where the terms applied to only around half of Swiss shipments.

Almost all Chinese exports to Switzerland are duty free under the existing 2014 free trade agreement between the two countries, Beijing's first such deal with an economy in continental Europe.

Other areas covered in the new agreement include rules of origin and trade facilitation, trade in services, digital trade, competition, and economic and technical cooperation.

China is Switzerland's third biggest trade partner after Germany and the United States, with bilateral trade amounting to 46 billion Swiss francs ($57.6 billion) so far in 2026.

Trade between the two countries has expanded from 31.7 billion francs in 2015 to 51.2 billion francs last year, according to figures from the Swiss customs office, with China a big market for Swiss chemicals, pharmaceuticals, precision instruments and watches.

Once the legal review has been completed, a signing of the deal is expected later this year, before the domestic approval processes in each country take place.

($1 = 0.7983 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill and Ariane LuthiEditing by Linda Pasquini)