Israel’s pivot to the Asian markets continues with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trip to Beijing. As part of his trip, the Prime Minister met with the heads of China’s largest corporations, each of which has a turnover of tens of billions of dollars. Wanda, Alibaba, Wahaha, Lenovo and Baidu were just some of the corporations Bibi met with.
“I just met with 11 heads of the largest corporations in China. A major portion of them are investing in Israel and a major portion of them will invest in Israel. This means jobs, the development of businesses and a link to the major Chinese markets. This is good for the citizens of Israel and for the Israeli economy. I told them that in today’s world there are several concentrations of technology, not many, the US, Israel, and Israel is open for business with China,” Netanyahu said this morning in Beijing.
Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear that Israel will continue to open up to the Chinese market and to increase bilateral trade.
As China and India along with other rising economies in Asia have increasingly become pivotal commercial centers and economic engines, Israel has moved to develop lasting relations with them. Economy is only one part of the equation. Asia, from India and eastward has little history of antisemitism, which makes dealing with them far more easier when issues of Middle Eastern politics arises.
The Chinese in particular, like the Indians admire and respect ancient cultures for which they see Israel as being.
“Israel and China both see themselves as ancient nations, a commonality that is important to the Chinese, who take history seriously. And the countries actually share quite a few cultural values, such as a strong emphasis on family and education, a work ethic and a passion for learning,” Alexander B. Pevzner founding director of The Chinese Media Center based in Rishon LeZion wrote in an Op-Ed.
The forum in Beijing is part of the Asian pivot that has continued to grow in the last few years when Israel was forced to diversify its foreign partnerships due to a loss of status under the Obama administration. The forum was organized by Economy and Industry Ministry commercial attaches at Israel’s missions in China.
The Israeli delegation to the forum – organized under the aegis of the Export Institute – includes business people from a variety of industries and companies (including IDE, Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Tnuva, NaanDanJain and others) that either operate in China or are interested in penetrating the Chinese market. Delegation members are due to meet with hundreds of Chinese business people before they return to Israel.