Ambassador Gao cutting the ribbon with Minister Katz(first one from the right)

On January 30th, Ambassador Gao Yanping was invited to attend the launching ceremony of the first Chinese bus entering the Israeli market and delivered a speech in the city of Eilat. Ambassador Gao also cut the ribbon for the ceremony with Katz, Israeli Minister of Transportation and Road Safety. Mr. Hu Ming, Commercial Counselor of Embassy of China, was present.

Ambassador Gao said in her speech that the mutual exchanges between Chinese people and Jewish people began over one thousand years ago. Since the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and Israel twenty years ago, the pragmatic cooperation in various fields between the two countries has been continually deepened and has brought tangible benefits to both peoples. The economic and industrial structures of the two countries are complimentary, and the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has a tremendous potential. The bilateral trade volume is expected to exceed $10 billion this year, an increase of almost 200 times that of twenty years ago. The fast development of the Chinese automotive industry has attracted worldwide attention. It's a wise choice for Israeli automotive companies to cooperate with Chinese companies. She hoped, through joint efforts of the two countries, the future of the bilateral relations will be more successful.

Katz, Israeli Minister of Transportation and Road Safety, Halevi, Mayor of the city of Eilat, Tsor, Chairman of Board of Directors of Eilat Port, Kaufman, Chairman of China Motors, delivered speeches respectively. Speaking optimistically about the prospects of China's economic development, they firmly believe that the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries have huge potential, and the Chinese automotive products will surely achieve good performance in the Israeli market.

The ceremony exhibited one sample bus imported by China Motors, an Israeli company, from Yutong Company based in Zhengzhou, China. More than fifty Chinese buses of this model will enter the Israeli market this year.