China ‘locomotive’ to power global post-pandemic recovery – Swiss economist

The Chinese market has become an important global growth driver because of its size and its continuing expansion, according to the chief economist at Swiss national business federation Economiesuisse, Rudolf Minsch.

He told Xinhua News that the country is expected to play the role of a “locomotive” for powering global recovery in the post-pandemic era. Moreover, it is “absolutely crucial that China is opposing any tendency to reverse globalization,” Minsch said, adding that Beijing has been keeping up the effort to “establish a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment.”

The most important part of the Chinese economic policy today, according to the economist, is “the commitment of the government to widening the door to the world, despite the difficulty arising from the coronavirus crisis.” Minsch said that “open markets are key to the long-term growth of China and are so to the rest of the world.” 

Talking about the economic cooperation between Beijing and Bern, he said that, since 2010, China has been Switzerland’s biggest trading partner in Asia and its third-largest globally, after the European Union and the United States. A free trade agreement between the two countries was signed in 2013 and entered into force on July 1, 2014.

“There are so many Swiss companies in China, collaborating with Chinese firms as customers, as suppliers, or as research and development partners,” Minsch said.

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