China and Switzerland held their first study meeting on the feasibility of a Free Trade Area (FTA) in Beijing on Thursday, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a statement on its website.

The meeting will continue until Friday, the department of international trade and economic affairs of the MOC told Xinhua.

According to MOC statistics, bilateral trade between China and Switzerland topped US$11.3 billion in 2008.

Although the two-way trade volume dropped slightly on account of the global economic downturn in 2009, the decline rate was small.

Official figures also show that Switzerland is China's ninth largest European trade partner, while China is Switzerland's fourth largest global trade partner.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2010)