Jerusalem – China and Israel formally launched negotiations on Tuesday on a free-trade agreement that officials said could double commerce between the Asian powerhouse and the Middle East’s self-styled “start-up nation”.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the talks after he met visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong. The countries, whose current trade is worth about $8 billion, have held exploratory discussions of the deal since May 2013.
“Cooperation between Israel and China can produce massive results, and we believe that Israel can be the perfect partner,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.
It quoted Liu as saying Israel was “world-renowned for its innovation” and that China would embark on “great joint projects” with it.
Netanyahu wants to diversify Israel’s commercial ties abroad, in partly due to what he has said is a need to reduce the country’s dependence on its biggest trading partner, Europe.
Disputes with the European Union over policy toward the Palestinians, and EU labeling of products by Israeli settlements in occupied territory, discomfit the Netanyahu government. Israel also worries about anti-Jewish incidents in Europe, such as last year’s Islamist attack on a Paris kosher deli.
Netanyahu’s office said the free-trade agreement could double bilateral commerce and investment. At Tuesday’s meeting, China and Israel also signed 13 cooperation agreements, including in energy and water development, officials said.
A senior Israeli official told Reuters he was optimistic the deal with China could be concluded in about a year.
As long as china keeps up their financial investments in Israel, at the same time giving the arab states billions of dollars in bilateral trade agreements, it’s a step forward in stabilizing peace in the middle east, since china wants it’s investments to be safe and secure. Israel now needs to learn from China how to abruptly stop the daily stabbings, car rammimgs, and shootings of its civilians. While the vice premier of China is visiting Israel, Netanyahu should ask her China’s approach in nipping terrorism in the bud, and he will find her response quite enlightening and israel should follow suit!
Israel should deport Palestinian prisoners to China’s jails…or not deport, but just hire space in China’s jails until jails in Israel can be expanded…
Israel govt is a socialist /liberal /progressive thinking majority and will never do what it takes to become safe because that would encroach on the liberties of the terrorists and murderers,just like in America