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 | Thursday, April 27, 2000, updated at 16:17(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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President Jiang's Israel Visit Significant: AmbassadorThe upcoming state visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Israel is an extremely important event for both Israel itself and the Sino-Israeli relationship, Israeli ambassador to China Ora Namir has said on April 10.China and Israel have developed "an excellent relationship" since the forging of diplomatic relations in 1992. "We are proud that our two countries are able to advance such a relationship so well," Namir said in an interview with local press. During Jiang's visit, which will start on April 12, he is expected to meet with Israeli President Ezer Weizman, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, parliamentary leaders as well as other senior officials. The two countries are also scheduled to sign two agreements on economy and education respectively. President Jiang will visit the Holocaust Memorial Center, the first place that every foreign leader visits, and study the high- tech industries and desert conditions in Israel's agricultural sector, the ambassador said. Describing China as one of the most important countries in the world, Namir said "We regard Jiang as a great leader of a great country", adding that President Jiang has always reflected his profound admiration and love for the Jewish people. Sino-Israeli relations have grown smoothly since the establishment of diplomatic relations eight years ago. The two countries have also maintained frequent high-level exchanges in the past two years. Chinese top legislator Li Peng was in Israel just four months ago. Israeli President Weizman visited China in April last year following the then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to China in 1998. The Chinese also reciprocated when Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian and Dai Bingguo, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, visited Israel last year. Frequent exchanges in technology, agriculture, aviation, telecommunications and other areas have been fruitful. Trade volume between the two countries amounted to 600 million U.S. dollars last year, 20 times more than it was eight years ago. Israel has launched the largest drip irrigation project in northwest China's Gansu province, and started three similar projects in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region recently, Namir said. "We feel that we want to and can share our experience with China in agriculture," she said, adding that Israeli companies only began to sell agricultural equipment to China last year. Many Israeli companies are now starting to invest in Sino-Israeli joint ventures in agriculture in China. "It is a good sign," said Namir, who expressed the belief that high-tech and telecommunications companies of Israel will come to China to pursue greater cooperation. Namir, who has served as an ambassador for nearly four years in Beijing, has led economic delegations to Chinese provinces almost every three months to discuss cooperative projects with local counterparts With regard to China's role in the Middle East peace process, the ambassador said China has an excellent relationship with both Israel and all Arab nations. "This is extremely important," she added.
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