GENEVA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Switzerland reflects the importance attached by the Chinese leadership to Sino-Swiss relations, indicating firm confidence and great expectations for future bilateral ties, a senior diplomat said Friday.

During Xi's four-day visit, the leaders of the two countries will meet eight times on various occasions and conduct a thorough and in-depth discussion on bilateral relations and issues of common concern, China's Ambassador to Switzerland Geng Wenbing told Xinhua in an interview.

During the visit, the two countries are expected to sign a series of cooperation agreements or statements on cultural, customs, energy, tourism and free trade arrangements, and achieve closer ties in the fields of innovation and cooperation mechanism construction, intelligent manufacturing, scientific and technological cooperation, as well as environmental protection.

"These fruitful achievements will surely inject new impetus into the development of Sino-Swiss relations," Geng said.

At present, China and Switzerland have concluded 17 pairs of sister cities or provinces. During President Xi's visit to Switzerland, China's Jiangsu Province and the Canton of Vaud of Switzerland will also sign an agreement for sister-like friendly relations.

The two countries will also launch a "Sino-Swiss Tourism Year for 2017" during the visit to promote tourism between the two sides.

According to the Chinese ambassador, Chinese traditional culture and the Chinese language are becoming more and more popular in Switzerland, with more than 40 high schools having offered Chinese language courses.

Future Sino-Swiss relations are still promising, and the improvement of the ties between China, the largest developing country, and Switzerland, one of the richest developed countries in the world, will contribute more to world peace and prosperity, Geng said.

He added that at present, China and Switzerland are considering the establishment of a Sino-Swiss innovation and strategic dialogue platform to further deepen mutual trust and encourage new forms of innovation related cooperation.

The two sides will also further promote and upgrade the implementation of the Sino-Swiss free trade agreement (FTA) in an effort to make full use of bilateral trade preferential measures to provide maximum convenience.

"In the current changing international situation when the world economic recovery in still weak, the enhancing and deepening of Sino-Swiss relations will not only benefit their own development, but also have a profound and positive impact on the entire region and the world," the Chinese ambassador concluded.