On the first day of his visit, Mr Bischofberger attended the opening of the first Swiss School in China. This is affiliated with the renowned Western Academy Beijing, and so benefits from the latter’s excellent infrastructure. The Swiss School offers a German language syllabus in an international environment. Mr Bischofberger also visited the Beijing No. 2 Middle School, a first-class school that partners with the Interlaken baccalaureate school.
On 31 October, a meeting was also held between the President of the Council of States, Ivo Bischofberger, and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Zhang Dejiang, in the Great Hall of the People. The discussion focussed mainly on bilateral and international topics. After a general appraisal of the friendly relations between Switzerland and China, Zhang identified possible areas for further cooperation. He expressed a desire for parliamentary exchanges and underscored a great potential for further economic cooperation.
On this occasion, the Chairman of the Standing Committee also explained the results of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
As part of the programme, the President of the Council of States was also met by Xu Lüping, Deputy Director of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Discussions focussed primarily on international cooperation, Switzerland’s dual-track approach to vocational education and training and other international matters (climate policy, migration issues, the situation on the Korean peninsula) were in the foreground of the discussions.