From 12 to 19 April 2017, Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer, Head of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), will lead a delegation from the Confederation and Swiss financial centre players on a trip to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Visits to ministries and authorities, state institutions and financial centre players are envisaged. The talks will focus on bilateral and multilateral issues, and concrete cooperation at the state and private-sector levels. In particular, the optimum framework conditions for supporting innovation in the financial sector, for investments and financial services will be broached, as will the role and opportunities for Swiss financial institutions locally and those of the countries concerned in Switzerland, as well as interest in implementing and drawing up global standards concerning financial matters. This exchange with state and private-sector players from the most important financial centres in the Asian region will take place in the context of Switzerland’s financial market policy for a competitive Swiss financial centre. This underlines the strengths of the Swiss financial centre and actively safeguards Switzerland’s interests in this area. This also includes opening doors for the sector overseas. It is therefore desirable to achieve a public image that is as consistent and effective as possible together with the sector. Switzerland has one of the best, most secure and most competitive financial centres in the world thanks to its excellent framework conditions.