Bilateral links celebrated on Switzerland’s national day, Zhou Wa reports. On the 122nd anniversary of Swiss National Day, Salome Meyer, Charge d’Affaires of the Swiss Embassy in Beijing, talked about the country and its ties with China in an interview with China Daily. Since 1891, Aug 1 has been celebrated as Swiss National Day. The date marks the founding of the mediaeval Swiss Confederation by the three cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden on that date in 1291, Meyer said. The Swiss have a reputation as hard working, pragmatic and innovative people, said the Charge d’Affaires, noting “we share these characteristics with the Chinese people”. Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognize the new China when they established official diplomatic relations in January 1950. In 2007, Switzerland was also among the first countries to recognize China as a full market economy. According to Chinese statistics, trade volume between China and Switzerland reached USD 26.31 billion in 2012 and USD 22.89 billion in the first five months of this year. According to the FTA, both parties agree to lower tariffs – sometimes to zero – on the majority of products to further encourage trade.