Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey started a three-day official visit to China on Sunday by visiting the Swiss exhibits at the Shanghai World Expo.
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She took a ride on the Swiss pavilion’s main attraction, its chair lift, before going on to visit the pavilion presented jointly by the cities of Basel, Geneva and Zurich, where she praised the examples of Swiss technological know-how on show.
The last stop on her Expo visit was the Chinese pavilion, where she was “very impressed” by both the cultural treasures and the technological skills on view.
In the evening she met Shanghai’s deputy mayor, Shao Wen.
Calmy-Rey is due in Beijing to meet Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Monday and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Tuesday.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2007, which aimed to deepen bilateral relations and provided for regular meetings at the level of experts, state secretaries and ministers.
The minister’s visit also marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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