Xi's Swiss visit to focus on China's growth, global problems

President Xi Jinping on Sunday kicked off his first overseas trip of this year to Switzerland, where he will speak on China's economic situation as well as Beijing's stance on current global problems.

Xi will visit Switzerland from Sunday to Wednesday, during which he will also attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos on Jan 17 and visit the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee on Jan 18.

China will continue to be a huge supporter of world economic growth and a hot destination for foreign investment, Xi said in an article published Friday in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, a leading Swiss daily newspaper.

"We meet at a time of angst about the prospects of the world economy, growing backlash against economic globalization, and rising populism and trade protectionism," Xi wrote in the article.

Francois Subiger, an official responsible for media services at the United Nations office in Geneva, said that China has been deeply involved in solutions to problems concerning peace, security and development in recent years, according to a report of the Xinhua News Agency.

Switzerland was among the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and was among the first group of European countries to recognize China' market economy status. The first industrial joint venture China entered into was with Switzerland.

China and Switzerland established an innovative strategic partnership in April during a state visit to China by Johann Schneider-Ammann, the country's president at the time. It was the first such partnership China had developed with another country.

Since the inception of the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2014, bilateral trade and mutual investment have flourished. Against the sluggishness of the global economy, bilateral trade reached $44.27 billion in 2015.

In 2014, the Chinese and Swiss central banks signed a currency swap agreement worth $24 billion, which was intended to provide liquidity support to economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.

In 2016, China Construction Bank, a leading Chinese State-owned lender, set up a branch in Zurich, marking the official launch of the renminbi clearing business in the world's largest offshore financial hub.