Shandong, Israel boost ties with conference

At the GoforIsrael China-Israel Investment Conference held in Jinan, capital city of East China’s Shandong province, Chinese and Israeli business leaders were passionate on future cooperation in various sectors, especially the high technology sector.

The Tuesday conference brought together business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs from 120 Israeli companies and over 800 Chinese companies.

Israeli high-tech companies showcased their latest innovations in areas including advanced manufacturing technology, information technology, life sciences, clean technology, agricultural technology and energy at the conference.

Nine cooperation statements of intent were inked between Israeli and Chinese companies at the conference, covering sectors like new materials, biological medicine, sewage treatment and agricultural development.

Shandong is putting effort into developing emerging industries of a new generation of information technology, high-end equipment, new energy and new materials, modern marine, medical and health care, as well as transforming and upgrading competitive industries of high-end chemical engineering, modern efficient agriculture, culture creativity, boutique tourism and modern financial services to accelerate high-quality development, Ling Wen said during a speech at the conference on behalf of the Shandong provincial government.

Ling said there are great opportunities for companies in Shandong and Israeli companies to achieve win-win cooperation by deepening practical cooperation in key areas.

China is a country with a huge population and market potential, said Haggai Ravid, CEO of Cukierman & Co. Investment House, an organizer of the conference.

Ravid said in the future, Israel will carry out more cooperation with Chinese companies in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and biological technology.

“We see very strong innovation and design from Chinese companies and Chinese universities. So we are confident the next level of innovation using our technology could come from China,” Gilad Reshef of Nano Dimension said.

A China-Israel Industrial Park which will mainly house Israeli companies will be built in Shandong, according to Shandong Guohui Investment Co Ltd, an organizer of the conference.

In 2017, bilateral trade volume between China and Israel exceeded $13 billion and China's investment in Israel exceeded $16.5 billion. China has become Israel's third-largest trading partner in the world, and the largest from Asia.