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Israel and China

[Ha'aretz] Adi Schwartz - The China of 2008 is a superpower. The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation is digging the Carmel Tunnel, a 4.7-km. underground road below Haifa's city center. Some 550 Chinese are currently residing in Haifa while they work on the project. The firm is also involved in Tel Aviv's light-rail project. Chinese manufacturer ZPMC this week won the tender to supply seven bridge cranes to Haifa port. Prof. Marvin Samuels, an adviser to the Chinese Ministry of Communications and a lecturer at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, says, "In the past year, Israel has received an amazing positive spin in China," as reflected in news reports in both the governmental and semi-independent media. "If Chinese companies have begun to do business in Israel, it is very probable that senior officials in the Chinese politburo gave them the green light to do so." Zhou Hui, the commercial attache at China's Embassy in Tel Aviv, says trade between the two countries has increased from $50 million in 1992 to about $4.5 billion in 2007. China exports goods and services worth $3.5 billion to Israel, and imports $1 billion-worth from Israel. Amos Nadai, Israel's ambassador to China, says, "I keep hearing compliments about the ancient culture of the Jewish people and the old tradition, and about the ability to build a modern country out of them in a span of 60 years. These comparisons make the Chinese feel close to us: They, too, have a glorious tradition and they, too, are trying to develop a modern country quickly. They feel that they have something to learn from us."
2008-08-08 01:00:00
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