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China and Israel


2011/08/22


Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the State of Israel in 1992, cooperation in various fields has developed rapidly. The bilateral relations continued to enjoy sound and steady growth in 2010.

The two sides enjoyed frequent political exchanges. During his visit to Israel in March, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and held talks with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon. Du Qinglin, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and Minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee visited Israel in May. A delegation of the Chinese Communist Party led by Zhang Gaoli, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Tianjin Municipal CPC Committee, visited Israel in November and met with President Peres and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigor Liverman respectively. Vice Chairman Jiang Futang of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee led a delegation to Israel in May. Wu Sike, China's Special Envoy for the Middle East Issue, visited Israel in June and October. From the Israeli side, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon visited China in February and had talks with State Councilor Dai Bingguo. Majallie Whbee, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, visited China in September and met respectively with Du Qinglin, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and Minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Zhai Jun, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Ayalon visited China from 13 to 14 October and met with Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun and Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin respectively. Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Minister of Public Affairs and the Diaspora, led a delegation of the Likud Party on a study tour to China in December and met respectively with Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Head of the CPC Publicity Department, and Wang Chen, Director of the International Communication Office of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of the Information Office of the State Council.

The bilateral cooperation and exchanges in science and technology, economic, trade and investment grew steadily. Lu Yongxiang, Vice Chairman of NPC and President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the Conference of Science Academy Presidents held by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in March. Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and Minister of Science and Technology, visited Israel in May. During the visit, the two sides hosted the sixth meeting of the Joint Committee of Science and Technology and signed the Agreement Between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the State of Israel on Cooperation in Technological Innovation for Industrial Research and Development. From the Israeli side, Isaac Herzog, Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs, visited China in April, attended the Opening Ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo and met with Vice Premier Hui Liangyu. Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz visited China in May and met with Vice Premier Li Keqiang. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, attended the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2010 in China in September. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials attended the ceremony on 30 November marking the opening to traffic of the Carmel Tunnels constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

There were extensive cultural and people-to-people exchanges and exchanges at local level between the two sides. For the first time, Israel attended the World Expo with a self-constructed pavilion in Shanghai. It hosted the National Pavilion Day on 6 May, for which it issued commemorating stamps and staged a performance themed "the Spirit of Israel". On 28 September, President Peres and David Levy, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended and addressed the reception and the New Elegant Music show marking the 18th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Israel in Beit She'an. "Chengdu Israel Week" was held in Chengdu, China in November, featuring an enterprise forum, the Israel film festival and concerts.


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