Sooner or later, Britain, if it wants to remain competitive, will follow in Switzerland's and Norway's footsteps to enter into free trade talks with China after withdrawing from the European Union, experts say.

Wealthy non-EU member Switzerland signed a free trade agreement with China in 2014, and Norway is in talks with China to reach a similar deal.

Ma Yu, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, says Britain is a favorite European investment destination for Chinese companies and has strong business and diplomatic ties with China.

"Under such circumstances, it shouldn't take long to complete China-UK FTA talks if both sides want it to be done within a short period," he says.

However, He Wenwei, director of the research center for European and American studies at the China Association of International Trade, says that because the UK used to have a strong voice in Brussels, "its withdrawal from the EU will raise China's time and resource costs in negotiating the China-EU FTA and a comprehensive EU-China investment agreement with the EU".

Trade of goods between China and the EU was $564.85 billion last year, while trade between China and Britain reached $78.54 billion, according to the General Administration of Customs.

(China Daily European Weekly 07/02/2016 page9)