This past week, Prime Minister Netanyahu visited China with a large delegation, aiming to boost trade between China and Israel. During the visit, Netanyahu met with Chinese President Xi Jingpin, Prime Minister Li Keqiang, and Vice Prime Minister Liu Yandong, as well as Chinese business leaders.
Netanyahu set out his vision for the relationship in a number of very significant speeches. Maybe the most significant paragraph from the Prime Minister’s remarks was in a speech given on 21st March in the presence of President Xi, where Mr Netanyahu said:
“We admire China’s capibilities, its position on the world stage and its history. We have always believed, as I discussed on my past visit, that Israel can be a partner, a junior partner, but a perfect partner, for China, in the development of new technologies that change the way we live.”
In another speech, Netanyahu explained that the basis of the partnership would be “marrying our technologies with China’s capacities.” Israel is a small country, overflowing with technological innovations, looking for countries and markets to apply the technologies in – and China is a perfect example of a country with a massive market, looking to develop and grow.
The China-Israel relationship is not just something that is discussed at the theoretical level, but it is already taking shape through serious developments on the ground. Last year, Israeli start-up Playtika was bought by a Chinese consortium for $4.4 billion. Numerous Chinese companies, including Baidu, “China’s Google” have already made investments in Israel. During this visit, the two heads of state discussed the creation of a special economic waiver for Israel from certain Chinese restrictions, allowing trade and investments to flow even more freely.
The China-Israel relationship is getting stronger by the day, and hopefully both countries can be bettered by this new partnership. Israel has a new goal in its international relations – becoming the junior, but perfect, partner for China.
Contributed by Aron White, CAMERA intern.