China's import expo road show attracts crowd of Israeli officials, businesses

TEL AVIV, Israel - The third China International Import Expo (CIIE) road show was held on Thursday in the Israeli city Tel Aviv, attracting more than 100 delegates from the Israeli government, organizations and companies.

A delegation from the CIIE bureau, the event organizer, gave a detailed introduction of the third import expo, due to be held in November this year in the Chinese city of Shanghai.

The economic and trade ties between China and Israel have been flourishing since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, said Dai Yuming, chargé d'affaires ad interim at the Chinese Embassy in Israel.

Currently, China is Israel's largest trading partner in Asia and also Israel's second largest trading partner in the world, he noted.

"There are strong economic complementarities between China and Israel and there are unlimited potentials for the two countries in the field of bilateral economic and trade cooperation," Dai said.

The CIIE has been serving as a vital platform in providing important opportunities for more and more global excellent exporters to set foot in the Chinese market and benefit from the rapid development of Chinese economy, Dai said.

He expressed the hope that Israeli companies could take advantage of the opportunity to expand their presence in the Chinese market by actively participating in the CIIE.

Liu Fuxue, deputy director of the CIIE bureau, who led the delegation for the road show, invited Israeli business representatives to attend the third CIIE, bringing more cutting-edge, high-quality and competitive products, technologies and services.

A total of six Israeli companies took part in the second CIIE held from Nov 5-10 in 2019, with an exhibition area totalling about 760 square meters, Liu said.

More and more Israeli companies are looking for business opportunities in different fields such as agriculture, water technologies, medical and digital health, telecommunication, and automotive, said Michal Niddam Wachsman, director of the China Department of the Foreign Trade Administration at Israel's Ministry of Economy and Industry.

"The CIIE initiative is an excellent opportunity for Israeli companies looking to increase their business activities in the Chinese market," said Wachsman.

Israel's Foreign Trade Administration is operating six commercial offices in China, ranking the top in number of the offices across the world, with the aim of enhancing cooperation in trade and investment between the two countries, she said.

The potential for promoting the commercial ties between Israel and China is unlimited, said Sabine Segal, deputy director general for International Business Affairs of the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute. He said the tremendous flow of business delegations between the two sides and the volume of the business deals reached "are a fantastic testimony to that."

Israeli hi-tech company Watergen participated in the second CIIE, where it exhibited its water-from-air system which produces high-quality drinking water from air. "The CIIE is a good platform to further improve the relations between Israel and China," Paula Crystal Green, head of the sales department of Watergen, told Xinhua.

Many Israeli companies are now trying to enter the Chinese market and the CIIE is the "right place" to present their technologies, Green said.

More than 3,800 enterprises from 181 countries, regions and international organizations participated in the second CIIE, which concluded with tentative deals worth $71.13 billion reached for one-year purchases of goods and services.