Joint Israel-China event aims to improve tech ties between the two nations

The 7th China Yunnan-Israel Innovation Cooperation Forum took place last week both in Israel’s Tel Aviv and China’s Yunnan province in a hybrid event that featured two sessions of roadshows featuring Israeli technology and Chinese government entities and companies. Participating organizations included the Chengdu consulate and the Israeli Economic & Trade Mission to Southwest China, the Chamber of Commerce in Israel (FICC), Via Meshi, China (Yunnan) – Israel Innovation Center, and the Israeli Chamber of Commerce in China (IsCham).

The purpose of the forum was to continue to strengthen ties between the two countries. Via Meshi has over the years worked with IsCham's 140 company members who needed help with events and activities to enhance representation or form meaningful relationships overseas. 

“China has the money to invest... they produce the products so it answers the needs of many Israeli companies,” explained Tslil Kleiman, Via Meshi’s General Manager. Via Meshi aims to promote the cultural, business, and commercial relations between the two nations. The non-profit was founded by entrepreneurs who themselves have lived and worked in China. “The challenges are mainly in communication and also it takes time. We need a lot of patience on the Israeli side to get a deal come through. But once it happens the potential is huge and that’s why we continue doing that. We as Chinese experts have this patience, we just need to teach it to our companies.”

Over the last three years, these events have helped companies in three main sectors, per the demand from the Chinese: Automotive, Agriculture, and Medtech. This year, attention was brought to Israel’s agricultural industry and how Yunnan province can adopt new technologies to best take advantage of its natural resources and water sources.

China is just the latest country that has seen a boom in economic and trade deals taking place with Israel. As well as the much-praised Abraham Accords that normalized ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Israel is also seeing expanded efforts from countries like Japan - which boosted its investment by 20% in 2020 representing 11.1% of foreign investment - and countries like Nigeria, which is climbing the ranks in the startup world and turning to Israel for inspiration.

“The Chinese government is putting a lot of effort into investing in green solutions,” Kleiman said when discussing the future of Via Meshi and Chinese/Israeli collaboration. “So they’re trying to work out the pollution issue that they have in China and so they invest a lot. They put a lot of money into investing in companies that have solutions in the green air, green water, and this is the good news for Israeli Greentech companies where their solution is needed because they can actually easily find government investment or partners in China to sell to.”