China to cut duties on Swiss watch tariffs

China has agreed to cut import tariffs on Swiss watches by 60% in 10 years as part of an upcoming free trade agreement between China and Switzerland, Bloomberg reported. China’s Assistant Commerce Minister Yu Jianhua said that duties will be cut by 18% in the first year and by 5% each year for the following nine years. China currently levies import tariffs of 15 to 20% on imported watches. The announcement came in the midst of an anti-corruption crackdown on gift-receiving by officials, which has contributed a 25% quarterly slump in watch sales.