Chinese President Visits Israeli Research Center, Kibbutz

Chinese President Visits Israeli Research Center, Kibbutz

Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Friday morning visited the Zohar Agriculture Research Center, accompanied by his Israeli counterpart Ezer Weizman.

The research center, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Jerusalem, is one of Israel's advanced agriculture research and experimental sites for fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants.

At the center, Jiang visited several greenhouses where fruits, vegetables and flowers are grown, and asked many questions about their specifications and cultivating process.

The Chinese president talked with technicians and researchers with great interest, and praised them for their achievements made under harsh natural conditions.

Chinese President Visits Israeli Research Center

"The land and soil conditions in China's western region, such as in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, are similar with what you have here," Jiang told the Israeli researchers.

"Your techniques of growing fruits and vegetables, including muskmelon and green pepper, are well worth studying by the Chinese farmers," he said.

Those techniques can be beneficial to accelerating the development of China's western region, he added.

In the afternoon, Jiang visited the En Gedi Kibbutz, about 90 kilometers southeast of Jerusalem.

Kibbutz is an agricultural farming community based on common ownership of the means of production and consumption.

At the kibbutz, Jiang visited the dining hall, the home of a kibbutz member, after being briefed on the history and current situation of the collective farm.

The Chinese president arrived in Israel Wednesday on a state visit. This is the first stop of Jiang's five-nation tour that willalso take him to Palestine, Turkey, Greece and South Africa.