Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The two discussed the budding alliance between the nations, which has developed rapidly since Wang’s first visit to Israel last December.
Netanyahu commented that the meeting expressed the advanced state of relations between the two nations, adding that Israel wants to further develop bilateral cooperation in technology and foreign affairs.
In the Davos meeting, Wang reciprocated the affability, reporting that 5 joint committees on relations with Israel had been held in China since the breakthrough visit last December. He expressed his desire that matters of cooperation, especially in the hi-tech field, be discussed in detail.
The sentiments support reports from late December, which revealed that the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and exporters in the defense industry are trying to challenge the US limitations on Israeli defense exports to China.
The report came after US fury over Israel’s transfer of military equipment to China earlier in December, which led to the resignation of Meir Shalit, the Department Head for Defense Exports at the Defense Ministry.
Netanyahu’s meeting with Wang comes as Israel is making signs of rapprochement towards China and away from the US. That process began picking up speed since last May, when Netanyahu traveled to China.
Israeli diversification of alliances has been indicated recently by the establishment of a joint technology fund with India on Tuesday, and the signing of a defense agreement with Kazakhstan on Monday.
In Davos, Netanyahu encouraged investment in Israel, citing the nation’s innovation in developing “more conceptual products per capita than any nation on earth.”
Indeed, recent research studies ranked Israeli among the top ten most powerful nations in the world.