China becomes key market for Swiss goods

China has been the export engine for Switzerland, and the trend is intensifying due to strong GDP growth and the middle class expansion in the country, said the non-profit Swiss Center Shanghai. 

SCS said on Monday that according to the Swiss Federal Customs Administration, exports to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong SAR increased up by 2.1 percent to 4.7 billion Swiss francs ($4.95 billion) in the first four months, while Swiss exports to the European Union declined by 4.2 percent during the same period. 

"China has been the fourth-biggest importer of Swiss products, behind Germany, the United States and Italy, ahead of France and the United Kingdom," said Nicolas Musy, managing director of SCS. 

"With the current trend, China will be the second-largest buyer of Swiss products after Germany in four or five years. This will come as a surprise. Suddenly we will be looking East as much as West to keep our prosperity." 

SCS, the largest cluster of Swiss companies in Asia, helps enterprises to enter the Chinese and Asian markets with workshop and office space as well as a broad network of experts.

In 2011, Swiss goods worth 14.7 billion Swiss francs were been exported to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong SAR. "A year-on-year increase of 2.36 billion Swiss francs confirmed China's position as the single largest contributor to Swiss export growth in this period of time," said Musy. "Since 2010, China has fueled the Swiss export engine."

He also said that "the combination of a strong local GDP growth and middle class explosion undoubtedly makes China the most attractive business opportunity of the decade for Swiss and European companies. China is finally maturing into the large consumer market that everyone hoped for in the last 20 years".

As a manifestation of China's growing purchasing power, the Swiss watch and precision instrument industries are witnessing growing export numbers, according to SCS.