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.