Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz
Photo: Isaschar Roas
Steinitz: Tighten financial ties with China
Finance minister tells Shanghai business seminar China could benefit from Israeli ability to 'think outside box'
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz spoke in Shanghai Wednesday at a joint business seminar for Chinese and Israeli companies, and called for tighter economic ties between China and Israel.
He said the world's two most ancient nations have a lot of values and wisdom in common, and that it was time to strengthen the financial bond between them.
Steinitz added that his visit to China was the first conducted by an Israeli finance minister in 15 years. The minister's party includes his deputy, Itzik Cohen, the director general of his ministry, Haim Shani, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, Nobel Prize laureate Robert J. Aumann, and 20 businessmen.
Steinitz said Israel wanted to strengthen ties with China because it is currently the second-largest economy worldwide. He said that in return, though Israel could not provide mass markets, it could make contributions in the realms of science, technology, and what he called "thinking outside the box".
The finance minister is slated to open the Israeli pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo Thursday. Around 70 million visitors are expected at the event, 93% of them Chinese. The expo will host 240 countries and organizations as well as 50 states that have established pavilions.
The minister will then travel to Beijing to meet with state officials, among them the president of China's central bank and the country's finance minister.
