Whilst the main area of interest for the first generation of Chinese foreign direct investments (“FDI”) had been natural resources, for the second generation access to industrial high technology and world-wide markets has become almost as important. This is where Switzerland comes into the picture. Accordingly, the number of Chinese controlled companies or branches in Switzerland has increased from 6 in 2004 to over 50 in 2012. Besides the fact that Switzerland has low tax rates in comparison with other European countries – for which we refer to the relevant PwC papers – VISCHER identified six key factors which they believe make Switzerland a prime choice for Chinese second generation FDI in Europe.