Beijing to host huge Israeli business event

Israel’s growing business ties with China show no signs of abatement, according to Eyal Rosenthal, managing director of the Infinity Israel-China Fund and an organizer of the upcoming China-Israel Technology, Innovation & Investment Summit.

“Chinese investment in Israeli technology will exceed $10 billion within five years,” said Rosenthal. The January 2016 summit — which is expected to attract over 1,000 entrepreneurs, business people, and investors from the two countries — will, he expects, “result in the signing of NIS 1 billion in deals in a range of fields.”

There doesn’t seem to be a week when a major delegation of Chinese business people come to Israel to check out the latest in start-up ingenuity in the Start-Up Nation — but organized Israeli delegations to China are less common. But in January, over 250 business and government officials will fly to Beijing for the China-Israel Technology, Innovation & Investment Summit — the largest-ever joint conference by the two countries — which will include presentations by top Israeli companies in their fields and the matchmaking network of Chinese funds and investors with Israeli companies and entrepreneurs.

The China-Israel Investment Summit is a joint initiative of Israel’s Ministry of the Economy and the Infinity Israel-China Fund, organized in response to the growing interest by Chinese companies in the Israeli economy in recent years, and the acquisition of Israeli companies. The summit has the full support of the Chinese government and has the assistance of the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. And, along with the business delegations from both countries, ministers and public officials from both Israel and China are expected to attend, as are representatives of Chinese government agencies, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).

Participating Chinese corporate giants at the event will include Alibaba, Baidu, Cheetah Mobile, China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina), BYD Auto, Sinopharm Group Company, GAC Group, Tencent, Jingdong Mall, BOE Technology Group, Xiaomi, and China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (Cofco), as well as financial institutions such as the China Development Bank and Fosun International.

Private Chinese investors seeking investment and cooperation opportunities with Israeli companies, as well as representatives from 35 top investment funds such as Sequoia Capital, Legend Capital, Metrix, IDG, Hony Capital, CITIC Capital, China International Capital Corporation (CICC), and SVG will also attend.

Many of these firms and investors are already doing business in Israel. Alibaba, for example, has invested in several Israeli companies, including Visualead, whose technology enables product manufacturers to print labels with unique QR codes for each individual product package. QR codes are images for mobile devices that are used as “shortcuts” to reach websites, and Visualead’s innovation is that it utilizes aesthetic shapes and color to create “designer” QR codes that can be made to order for products and companies.

In addition to Alibaba, Fosun Pharmaceuticals, a division of the biggest company in China, invested in Check-Cap, developer of a new technology to allow for non-invasive colon-cancer screening. Fosun led the round that brought an additional $12 million in financing to Check-Cap. The funding is being given in the form of a line of credit that Check-Cap can draw on, with the investors having the option to convert those loans into shares in the company.

And Baidu has made several investments in Israel: first, in a venture capital fund; and then directly in video-capture firm Pixellot, originators of a unique method of filming — the unmanned “capture-all” system, which deploys cameras to capture all angles and views of a venue.

More than 250 executives and managers from Israeli venture capital funds and high-tech companies will attend the summit, including ReWalk, Itamar Medical, Kaiima, Cortica, Water-Gen, ThetaRay, eToro, IDE Technologies, Celltick, Credorax, VisualLead, Servatronix, Appsflyer, and ironSource. They will be joined by other leaders from the smart-city, medical device, agritech, cleantech, Internet technology, and cellphone industries.

According to conference organizer Ziva Eger, head of the Israel Foreign Investment and Industrial Cooperation, a cosponsor of the event from the Israeli side: “We are proud to invite Chinese investors to explore the Israeli innovative spirit and the vast possibilities in the Israeli industry, the Israeli technology and the unique human skills. Today, with industries, both traditional and advanced, changing so rapidly, there is no better place to invest in than Israel — the place that represents the future — creativity, innovation and talented people.”