ZURICH, Oct 26, 1995; (Reuter) - Switzerland will send its largest-ever delegation of business leaders to China on Sunday on a five-day visit led by Economics Minister Jean-Pascal Delamuraz.

Delamuraz' ministry on Thursday said the economic mission, with eight government envoys and 32 executives, would arrive in Beijing on Sunday. The last mission in 1992 totalled 20 people.

The programme officially starts when Delamuraz meets Chinese President Jiang Zemin or Prime Minister Li Peng on Monday, then goes to Shanghai and Chengdu in Sichuan before ending in Guangzhou on November 3.

The Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce said it hoped Delamuraz would help press for further market access for Swiss firms, who have an estimated two billion francs ($1.76 billion) in contracted or actual investments in China and some 150 joint ventures there.

Officials noted that China has lowered a number of import levies on foreign-made products but some remained, including a high tarif on watches, a leading Swiss export product.

The Swiss delegation includes executives from all major sectors - engineering and machinery, watchmaking, chemicals, incurance, banking and trade.