Israel Olmert Meets China Provincial Official



By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem----May 16..... Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met this afternoon with Jiangsu Province Communist Party Secretary Li Yuanchao from China and told him that China - Israel relations (tinyurl.com/j9efd) were very important and helpful for both countries.

China Secy. Li thanked Israel Prime Minister Olmert for his contributions to bilateral relations. He acceded to the Prime Minister's request and said that Jiangsu Province representatives would attend the 6-9.11.06 Telecom Israel 2006 conference (www.telecom-israel.com).

The two men agreed to establish a joint, Israel-Jiangsu Province fund for investments in – inter alia – high-tech and nano-technology.

Israel is China's second-largest defense supplier. Although diplomatic relations between Israel and China were established only in 1992, military ties go back to the early 1980s. Israel has sold about US $4 billion worth of arms to China in recent years. In the 1990s, the Sino-Israel military relationship grew rapidly. In fact, arms sales contributed to the strengthening of diplomatic engagement.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that as long as China and Israel grasp opportunity, trade and economic cooperation will be upgraded to new heights. Wen made the remarks in a meeting with Israeli President Moshe Katsav. He said trade volume between China and Israel currently was as 13 times greater than when the two countries forged diplomatic ties.

Israel and China have enjoyed a wide variety of projects including a demonstration farm and cooperative research on water resources, biology, and nano-technology. These projects and Israel's defense relations with China have become good examples of recent China - Israel cooperation. Wen encouraged Israel to participate in China's strategy of developing the west region and northeast industrial base. Katsav said that both Jews and Chinese have contributed to the civilization of the humanity. He said that cooperation between Israel and China has great potential, particularly in economic and trade cooperation, and scientific research.

A group of Israel telecommunications companies is to travel to China from May 21-26 to network with Chinese companies. The delegation is being organized by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute in conjunction with the Israeli Economic Mission to China in Beijing. The aim of the delegation is for Israeli telecommunications companies to hold business meetings with Chinese service providers in the fields of fixed, wireless, ISP, satellite, and television broadcast.

Israel News Agency

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