China-Israel Investment Cooperation Booms

Israel has a territory of 25，000 square kilometers and a small population of 8 million people. The total bilateral trade volume is not impressive but has been growing rapidly in the past years. Today， China is the biggest trade partner of Israel in Asia and second biggest in the world. In 2014， bilateral trade exceeded 10 billion US dollars， increasing 0.5%. Moreover， the trade structure is upgrading， shifting gradually from the traditional categories like food， diamonds， and chemical products to high-tech technology， bio-technology and alternative energy sectors.

On the other hand， investment cooperation between the two countries is very active. Since 2010， the Chinese investment into Israel has been increasing rapidly， ranging from millions of dollars to billions of dollars in each case. As a leading country in science and technology， Israel has the second largest number of NASDAQ listed science and technology companies in the world， only after the US. In recent years， there has been remarkable increase of investments from private Chinese companies to Israel in the fields of telecommunication， media， clean technology， water efficiency technology， smart manufacturing and others. The government offers various incentive policies for foreign investors， and the general rule is the more you invest， the more preferential benefits you will receive. Exhibitions play a role in Israel economy. In Israel， many enterprises are quite small and located in remote places. At exhibitions， however， many companies gather in one place to display the profile of their industry， while foreign exhibitors can take this platform to enter local market. There is a purpose built exhibition center in Tel Aviv， which is only 40 minutes drive from the airport. As the country is strong in agriculture technology， most of the exhibitions are on themes of water technology， agriculture technology， homeland security， biology science and medical industry. In the past few years， local exhibitions have been drawing increasing interest from Chinese companies.

In addition， regarding rising momentum of China - Israel investment， the Israel Embassy in Beijing creates face to face negotiation opportunities for companies from both sides. On 4-6 January， 2016， the 1st ChinaIsrael Technology Innovation and Investment Summit was held in China National Convention Center. Over 100 Israel companies brought projects for cooperation， and 2，000 high level members from leading companies and private investors attended the lively occasion.