From May 26 to 28, Wang Hui, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban Rural Development, led a delegation to visit Switzerland to investigate Switzerland's green and innovative buildings, advanced technology and management experience, and held bilateral talks with Bernouard Reynolds, Director of the Swiss Federal Energy Agency, and Patricia Danz, Director of the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency. They had in-depth exchanges on promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of housing and urban development.      

Wang Hui said that next year the two countries will usher in the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. China is willing to work with Switzerland to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, continue to expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and jointly make greater contributions to global green, low-carbon and sustainable development. In November 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development and the Swiss Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Development Cooperation in the Field of Building Energy Efficiency, and the two sides carried out close cooperation to promote positive progress in China Switzerland zero carbon building projects. In the next stage, we should continue to deepen exchanges between the two sides in the field of building energy efficiency to achieve a higher level of mutual benefit and win-win results.

Bernuwa Raewaz said that building is an important area of energy consumption and carbon emissions, and China and Switzerland share common concerns and goals in building energy conservation and carbon reduction. Switzerland has made some achievements in the formulation and implementation of policies such as energy-saving signs in the construction field, and is willing to further strengthen bilateral cooperation with China under the framework of the memorandum of understanding to jointly promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in the construction field.

Patricia Danz said that through the top-down promotion of the steering committee and the bottom-up efforts of the project team, the speed and depth of the Sino Swiss zero carbon building project are impressive, and remarkable achievements have been achieved in just 2-3 years. It is hoped that under the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Building Energy Efficiency, the multi-level cooperation between China and Switzerland on zero carbon buildings will be further strengthened.

During the visit, the delegation also investigated green city, modular research and innovation building and other projects. The relevant heads of the Department of Standards and Quota, the Department of Construction Market Supervision, the Department of Planning, Finance and Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, and the unit in charge of Sino Swiss zero carbon building projects, China Academy of Building Sciences, accompanied the survey.