China ready to work with all nations for open global economy, VP says in Israel

Wang Qishan, on 4-day visit to holy land, addresses Innovation Summit in Tel Aviv; PM Netanyahu says innovation paving way for peace

Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter

Wang Qishan, Vice President of China, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the opening of the fourth Israel - China Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, October 24, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Wang Qishan, Vice President of China, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the opening of the fourth Israel - China Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, October 24, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

China’s Vice President Wang Qishan said on Thursday at an innovation summit in Tel Aviv that “the rising anti-globalization backlash” and protectionism have become a “major threat” to the global economy, and China seeks to counter those trends.

“China stands ready to work with all countries to build an innovative, open, interconnected and inclusive global economic landscape and to build a community with a shared future for all mankind,” he said at the Prime Minister’s Innovation Summit in Tel Aviv, in the shadow of a trade war with US President Donald Trump. His comments were delivered in Chinese.

Wang arrived in Israel Monday for a four-day visit focusing on high-level talks on economic cooperation, and is co-hosting the Innovation Summit in Tel Aviv with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he met on Monday.

Wang, 70, is the most senior Chinese official to visit the Jewish state in nearly two decades. In April 2000, Jiang Zemin became the first-ever leader of the People’s Republic to visit Israel.

At the summit, Netanyahu said that “peace and innovation go together,” and that Israeli innovation is paving the way for relations with Arab countries seeking access to Israeli innovation.

“I’m not speaking theoretically,” he said. “Because right now, as we speak, there are quite a few of the neighboring countries that are reaching out to us and normalizing relations with Israel, which is a step toward peace, because of innovation.”

He called on China to collaborate in tackling world famine through agriculture technology.

“In China and elsewhere, the future belongs to those who innovate,” he said. “We have a great confidence in the future of our relations with China and so many other countries, and the future of our relations with countries in the Middle East.”

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