2019 - Aug 07, 2019

Biggest market: China and Hong Kong hungry for Swiss precision instruments, watches, jewelry

  • In the first half of 2019, Swiss precision instrument, watch and jewelry exports to China and Hong Kong grew by 8.2% year-on-year to 4.3 bio Swiss francs. China (incl. Hong Kong) remains the biggest market for Swiss products of this segment. Jewelry exports grew particularly fast: +25%, 1.3 bio CHF.
  • Despite the lowest quarterly GDP growth in China in 27 years (6.2%), the overall Swiss exports to China and Hong Kong grew by 4% to 9.3 bio Swiss Francs.
  • Machinery exports to China and Hong Kong dropped by 4.4% to 1.4 bio Swiss Francs, while machinery exports to the USA grew (1.8 bio CHF, +2.7%). Exports to the biggest market for Swiss machinery, Germany, declined by 2.6% (4 bio CHF).

Shanghai (August 6, 2019) – In the first half year of 2019, Swiss exports to China and Hong Kong grew by 4% year-on-year to a volume of 9.3 billion Swiss francs, according to recent figures by the Swiss Federal Customs Administration.1 The most successful Swiss export segment to China and Hong Kong was precision instruments, watches and jewelry, with a growth of 8.2% to 4.3 billion Swiss francs. “China and Hong Kong are the biggest market worldwide for Swiss products of this segment. The main driver of the dynamic growth were the jewelry exports: They amounted to 1.3 billion Swiss francs, a plus of 25% year-on-year. When counting only Mainland China without Hong Kong, the growth of Swiss jewelry exports was even more astonishing: a plus of 87% year-on-year,” reports Nicolas Musy, Delegate of the Board of Swiss Centers in China, a non-profit organization that lowers the market entry barriers into Asia for Swiss companies. While watch exports to China and Hong Kong were stagnant on a high level (+0.3%, 2.37 bio CHF), precision instrument exports grew by 9.6% to a volume of 592 million Swiss francs.

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