Introducing Olmert the milkman
(VIDEO) Before diplomatic meetings, prime minister begins his visit to China in farm breeding milking cows, near Beijing. There Olmert hears about Israel's agricultural cooperation with China and even milks a cow. During his visit, PM expected to meet with Chinese president and prime minister
The farm, located near the Chinese capital of Beijing, was built in cooperation with Israel. There the prime minister heard about the agricultural cooperation between the two countries.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Olmert visited the Olympic being built ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Olmert checked out a model of the site being built in full speed, and as he left he signed in the guestbook.
"I am certain that the Beijing Olympics will be the most successful and a symbol of brotherhood, friendship and peace," he wrote.
A large part of the prime minister's visit is to deal with trade issues. Olmert said in an interview with the Chinese news agency that Israel seeks to expand its trade relations with the growing economic super power from USD 3 billion a year today to USD 5 billion next year. The prime minister is expected to sign trade agreements and meet the Chinese trade minister on Wednesday.
Olmert has so far not deal with the diplomatic issues on the agenda. These issues, including China's stance regarding the sanctions on Iran, which continues to develop its nuclear plan, will be raised in his meetings with the Chinese president and prime minister.
Olmert said before his arrival in China that he would like to see the Asian country expanding its influence in the Middle East in order to stabilize the situation in the region.
'Unilateral moves not encouraging'
In an interview with the Chinese news agency Xinhua before he left for China, Olmert said that a year ago he believed it would be possible to unilaterally withdraw from territories, but that Israel's experience in Lebanon and Gaza was not encouraging.
We unilaterally withdrew from Lebanon and look what happened, he said. We completely withdrew from Gaza and returned to the international border, and every day they fire Qassam rockets at Israelis, he added.
The prime minister's visit to China is relatively short, and he is scheduled to return to Israel on Friday. Till then, Olmert is expected to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. The declared purpose of the Beijing visit is talks on the Iranian nuclear threat.
This is the first official visit of an Israeli prime minister in China in more than 10 years. The last visit was held by Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996.
During his absence, the prime minister will be replaced by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
