Let me welcome all our SCCC members and supporters to a promising 2019 - we are prepared to serve you as a professional information and meeting platform at the highest level. And we are looking back at a very active year for the Chamber, a year during which we organized about 50 events and gatherings in China and in Switzerland.

The impressive speeches the Chinese Ambassador in Switzerland, Mr Geng Wenbing, has given in Zurich in October and in Bern in December gave an indication of the upcoming trade developments in 2019. China's trade policy looks more predictable than the one of the United States, and the two countries have decided to pursue different paths. Expansion and the opening of trade routes stand against protectionism and walling-off. China celebrates the 40st anniversary of the initiation of key reforms and openings, whereas the 'America first' slogan seems to stand for trade barriers and de-globalisation.

The coming years will undoubtedly lead to increased trade volumes, and China might take a lead in other sectors besides digitalization. The main challenge of a China trade dominance is not so much about what they do, but how they do it: we should talk less about trade volume but about trade governance. Growing economic dominance leads to growing responsibilities in dealing with neighbors and neighboring cultures. Listening to Mr Geng Wenbing’s speeches, I got the impression that China is fully aware of these challenges and seems to be prepared to both negotiate and accept global rules of reciprocity and respect local legislation.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2019

I remain yours sincerely

Thomas Christ

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.