Double first for President Xi as he arrives in Switzerland
Print Edition
CHINESE President Xi Jinping arrived in Zurich yesterday to pay a state visit to Switzerland and attend the 2017 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
It is the first state visit to the Alpine country by a Chinese president in the 21st century and Xi will also be the first Chinese head of state to attend the Davos meeting.
The Swiss government rolled out the red carpet for Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan at the Zurich airport where the couple were greeted by Swiss President Doris Leuthard and her husband Roland Hausin.
Accompanied by Leuthard, Xi inspected a guard of honor and a military band playing the countries’ national anthems.
In a speech delivered at the airport, Xi briefly reviewed the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries since they established diplomatic ties 67 years ago.
“I hope that, through my visit, we can deepen the traditional friendship between our two peoples, expand our practical cooperation in various areas, enrich the meaning of our innovative strategic partnership, push the bilateral ties to a new high, and jointly make positive contributions to promoting world economic recovery,” he said.
After the welcoming ceremony, Xi traveled by special Swiss government train to the capital Bern, where he is scheduled to have talks with Swiss leaders.
In 1950, Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the new People’s Republic of China.
At the start of this century, Switzerland was among the first European countries to recognize China as a full market economy and, in recent years, became the first European continental country to conclude and implement a free trade agreement with China.
Xi will later travel to the ski resort of Davos to attend the WEF annual meeting, which comes as economic globalization faces headwinds and is dented by rising populism and trade protectionism.
The Chinese president will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the forum on January 17 to share the views of the world’s second largest economy on charting the course for globalization to make it more inclusive and beneficial to all and on revitalizing global economic growth.
During this first overseas trip by Xi in 2017, which will end on Wednesday, the president will also travel to Geneva and Lausanne to visit the headquarters of the United Nations Office at Geneva, the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee.
Xi will give a speech at the UN office to outline how to realize his vision of building a community of a shared future for mankind.
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