On February 25 in Beijing, the Swiss Ambassador to China, Brigitte Baiwir, stated, "In the future, it's not about China adapting to the world's pace, but the world adapting to China's pace." She emphasized that "China's speed" is unparalleled globally.
Brigitte Baiwir attended the "Ambassador's Forum" of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Renmin University of China on that day and delivered a speech.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Switzerland. Baiwir said that Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with New China. In 2013, Switzerland became the first continental European country to sign a free - trade agreement with China. Since the entry into force of the free - trade agreement, the economic and trade relations between the two countries have continued to develop and prosper. "I'm grateful for the current cooperation achievements between the two countries and believe that the good development momentum will surely be maintained in the future," she said.
When talking about the cooperation between enterprises of the two countries, Baiwir mentioned that in 1980, the Swiss Schindler Group and a Chinese enterprise established the first industrial joint - venture enterprise in China. Currently, there are more than 1,000 Swiss enterprises in China. She said that Swiss enterprises not only achieve substantial revenues in China but also promote technology transfer and bring in professional knowledge in management and marketing.
"Meanwhile, Swiss enterprises are also learning from China how to adapt to local needs," Baiwir said. "China's speed" is a popular term in the business community. "The speed of China's innovation, customer service, and marketing is unparalleled across the globe." She believes that a large part of "China's speed" can be attributed to the digital transformation, which is a global trend. "So, in the future, it's the world that should adapt to China's speed. It can be seen that China and the world are closely connected in this process."