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October 23, 2018

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Innovation cooperation with Israel grows

COOPERATION between China and Israel has ensured a fast and fruitful development with efforts from both the governments.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan kicked off an official visit to Israel yesterday, during which he will attend the fourth meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation.

China and Israel established the joint committee in 2014 with the aim of promoting innovation cooperation in various fields. In March 2017, the two countries established an innovative comprehensive partnership during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to China.

Israel is attracting investment from China to the tune of over US$7 billion. Chinese companies have built research and development centers in Israel, including Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo.

“The ultimate measure of Chinese investment in Israel will be when Chinese companies begin establishing development, sales and manufacturing hubs in Israel,” said Dorian Barak, CEO of Indigo Global, a private equity investor and fund manager.

“An investment in an Israeli startup pales in value to a large Chinese conglomerate establishing a major Israel presence — hiring locals, paying local taxes and exporting from here,” Barak said.

According to Start-up National Central, a nonprofit organization that surveys Israel’s high-tech and innovation industry, Israel has more than 6,000 startups, and multinational companies have invested in over 350 R&D centers in the country.

Growing Chinese investment in artificial intelligence, computer vision and sophisticated manufacturing comes hand in hand with Israeli expertise in those fields.

Moreover, Israel’s innovative solutions in agriculture technology are also a perfect fit for China, said Doron Ella, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, pointing to China’s needs for “food and water security because of its big and growing population.”

“Israel has a strong impetus to do business in China,” Barak said. “The Israeli market is small, so its startups are gearing towards the global market from the get-go.”

China is now Israel’s largest trading partner in Asia and the third-largest across the world, with the bilateral trade volume in 2017 growing to over US$13 billion — about 260 times the volume back in 1992.




 

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