According to a survey, 72% of Swiss business leaders in China expect “higher” or “substantially higher” sales of goods from Switzerland to China and Hong Kong in 2018 than in 2017, when exports reached a record CHF16.7 billion (USD 17.9 billion).Just 5% of business leaders anticipated lower export figures this year, according to the preliminary results of the 2018 Swiss Business in China Survey.According to the Swiss Centers China press release, in 2017Switzerland exported CHF16.7 billion worth of goods to China and Hong Kong, which is an increase of 13.8% on the previous year and represents a new record. China and Hong Kong bought CHF7.2 billion (USD 7.7 billion) worth of watches and precision instruments from the alpine nation in 2017, making China the largest world market for this category of Swiss products. “While Swiss exports in 2017 to key markets such as Germany, Italy and France did not yet rebound to their pre-crisis 2008 levels, exports to China and Hong Kong grew by 66%” from 2008 to 2017, said Swiss Centers China co-founder Nicolas Musy.After watches and precision instruments, the most important export sectors from Switzerland to China and Hong Kong in 2017 were pharmaceuticals and chemicals (+13% growth), as well as machinery (+12.8%).