Ｉｓｒａｅｌ：Ａ Ｖｉｒｇｉｎ Ｌａｎｄ ｆｏｒ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ Ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ

An Interview WlUl Israel AmDassaclor

\"I think the economic and trade relationsare very Iimited. For israel， China has greatand endless possibility of cooperation， what-ever we can offer is we bet[eve that we cantake Israel as a high-tech powerful country.\" Dr. Yehoyada said

Ithe beginning of November， Israelhas given an official recognition to-- China's status of complete marketeconomy. What is the significance of thisevent? What influence will Israel's recog-nition bring to the bilateral economic andtrade relations? etc. With these questionsborn in mind， China's Foreign Trademagazine interviewed Dr. YehoyadaHaim， Israel Ambassador in November.

\"Mainly Israel economy is establishedon the base of free export to Israel. It isquite significant for both Israel and Chinato give recognition to China's status ofmarket economy， no items of China hasbeen put under investigation.\" said Dr.Yehoyada.

Israel's agriculturalknowledge available for China

\"I think the economic and trade rela-tions are very limited. For Israel， Chinahas great and endless possibility ofcooperation， whatever we can offer is webelieve that we can take Israel as a high-tech powerful country.\" Dr. Yehoyada saidwhen asked for his comments on the cur-rent situation of the bilateral economic and trade relations.\"In agriculture， Israel is alsovery developed. We have twomodem farms in China， oneis in Beijing， which hasbeen two years already，the other is nearUrumqi in XinjiangAutonomous Region，where the climate is dry， the land is muchof sands and the geo-graphic condition isquite similar toIsrael， we grow veg-etables and fruitsthere. Again wewish to set another farm in Beijing for veg-etables and fruits， in three years we willpass it over to the government of China.We think that there is very little of waterand very much sands in Israel， then wework there to develop the high technol-ogy so that the farmers can do much better.\"Dr. Yehoyada said.

\"The contribution in Israel agricultureis what China most needs because Chinahas 700 million farmers， they can benefitfrom the very developed Israel agriculture，for instance， they have problems of water，but in Israel there is much less water thanin China， and we still export USS1.5 bil-lion for agriculture products， fruits andvegetables.\"

\"As you know， more than a half Is-rael land are desert， but we have devel-oped agriculture to such an extent， wegrow grapes， apples， etc.， so we will sharewith you our experience in agriculturedevelopment， especially the agriculturehigh-tech we have developed.\" said Dr.Yehoyada.

Why no Chinese companies set RD in Israel?

When asked how many Chinese com-panies are there in Israel， Dr. Yehoyadacomplained: \"We have 250 Israel compa-nies investing in China， in high-tech， inmedicine， in telecommunication， in all ar-eas of agriculture， but unfortunately， noChinese companies are working in Israel.All the major companies in the world hascenters of research and development(RD)in Israel， for instance， Motorola， becausethe number of engineers per capita in Is-rael is the highest in the world， the numberof university graduates per capita in Israelis the highest in the world， the proportionof investment in RD from GDP is thehighest in the world. And as you know， wedraw very much initiative creativeness tothe center of Israel. So we hope more andmore Chinese companies set RD centersand make investment in Israel， it is goodfor them.\"

\"We have very very creative peoplewith initiatives， the government verymuch encourages RD， sometimes in thatareas they can get loans.\"

Embassy has done a great tothe trade relations

\"My center of work is economicissues. We have opened an office inShenzhen and Shanghai， I think it will bepossible to set an additional one in east of China. I go to most cases of Chineseprovinces， I take delegations ofcompanies， for example， I went toGuangdong province with 40 peopleaccompanied， we went to Liaoning， alongwith 20 peasant companies， to meet Chi-nese counterparts， and meet businesspeople one by one， and in any areas oftheir interests. We also had a joint exhibi-tion of jewelries from both Israel andChina.\" Dr. Yehoyada introduced his per-formance of promoting the Israel-Chinatrade relations.

\"Not long ago， a Chinese business del-egation has visited Israel， with any of theirinterest in Israel. Of course they made veryimportant contributions.\"

\"The joint ventures and RD centerswill be good for both sides. This area isnot so much developed but should bedeveloped. The ambassador of China toldme that he could give us 40000 visas. ButIsrael only gives 5000 visas to Chinese.Now I have understood that we want more Chinese workers to work in Israel， we givethem visa of work， 1000 for every week.\"

\"As for Israel， the relations with Chinais very important because any areas of Is-rael is the strongest， for instance， high-tech， agriculture， etc.. We hope more ex-port to China. In last 9 months， Europe'sexport to China has increased for 24%，but unfortunately， Israel's export to Chinaonly increased for minus 2%， we hope thatthe gap should be narrowed.\" Dr.Yehoyada said.