Switzerland turns its back on China

China’s rise to an economic superpower is unprecedented. In just a few decades, the Communist Party succeeded in turning Mao’s poorhouse into the world’s second largest economy.

Growth was based on a combination of capitalism and brutal dictatorship. But the liberal world was not deterred from this. On the contrary: Attracted by the prospect of a fast yuan, Western companies flocked to the Middle Kingdom with them, along with hundreds of thousands of expats, in hopes of making a big leap in their careers.

From 2000 to 2013 the number of Swiss will double

Many Swiss also followed the call from Beijing in the 1990s. From 2000 to 2013, the number of Confederations registered in China more than doubled, from 1,884 to 4,158 people.

In the meantime, however, the trend has reversed and the Swiss population in China has again dwindled significantly. As of December 1, 2022, only 2,751 Swiss citizens were still registered in China, the Federal Foreign Office (FDFA) reported at SonntagsBlick’s request.

The most obvious explanation for this decline is the Chinese government’s controversial zero Covid strategy, which has sparked public protests by the Chinese people in recent days.

China is losing its charm

But that’s only part of the explanation. Statistics prove that China lost its attractiveness long before Covid. Since 2014, the number of Swiss people in China has been falling almost every year. Already in 2019, last year before Corona, only 3410 people had registered.

Felix Sutter, Chairman of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SCCC), explains this development with the increasing decentralization of management. “Thanks to the experience gained since the turn of the millennium, know-how is now increasingly available locally.”

Hiring qualified employees is expensive

Also, hiring specialists is very expensive for European companies, and life in China has become less attractive to expatriates themselves, according to Sutter. “The cost of living has risen sharply in recent years and tax benefits for expatriates will decrease for the foreseeable future.”

However, expats still living in China are quietly citing another reason for the large number of returnees: increased government pressure. “The surveillance situation has expanded noticeably in recent years,” says a Swiss man who has worked in Shanghai for over a decade. This convinced many of his compatriots to return.

He also believed in the principle of “exchange through trade” when he came to China in the 1990s. But meanwhile, this vision has already turned out to be an illusion.