GENEVA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The rapid development of Sino-Swiss bilateral ties in recent years has provided a good framework for promoting economic and trade cooperation in the future, China's ambassador to Switzerland Geng Wenbing has said.
In an interview with local media this week, Geng told the Swiss audience that there is no need to worry about investments from China.
"If Switzerland wants to attract more Chinese investments, it should create a better and favorable public opinion environment," Geng suggested.
According to the Chinese Ambassador, in addition to the rapid growth of direct investment, some well-known Chinese enterprises have set up branches in Switzerland, and more Chinese enterprises are looking forward to having closer ties with their Swiss partners.
He mentioned that in the past several years, a relatively still limited number of Chinese companies has started to enter into Switzerland, a country for a long time being considered as having high quality environment, strong innovation ability, the craftsman spirit and the excellent business service level.
Nevertheless, Geng said, there are only some 80 Chinese enterprises running in Switzerland now, most of them are private enterprises and are limited in investment scales and business sectors.
In contrast, he said, there are currently more than 1,000 Swiss companies doing business in China, and almost all of the famous companies in Switzerland now have branches or R&D centers in China.
As regard to concerns by some local people about investments from Chinese enterprises, Geng said that at the beginning of China's reform and opening up, there were also such concerns in China, but the achievements made in the past 40 years have proved that such concerns were "redundant".
The Chinese diplomat also stressed that China, like Switzerland, is a firm defender of free trade and globalization.
He noted that both sides should work together to fight against rising trade protectionism and contribute to the maintenance of the international trade order.
