Vice Chairman Wei Jianguo Meets with Israeli Deputy Director General of Foreign Affairs Ministry Yaffa Ben-Ari

Vice Chairman Wei Jianguo Meets with Israeli Deputy Director General of Foreign Affairs Ministry Yaffa Ben-Ari

On January 29th, CCIEE vice chairman Wei Jianguo met with Ms. Yaffa Ben-Ari, deputy director general of Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discussing China economy, bilateral trade and other international issues. Also present were heads of departments of External Affairs and Economic Research of CCIEE.

Mr. Wei said that China’s GDP increased 7.4% last year and its economy is experiencing a transformation period. The top priority for China now is to transform China’s growth mode from government-led investment driven to consumption driven.

China needs to improve its ability in innovation, said Mr. Wei, and we should learn from Israel in this field. China-Israel trade and economic cooperation is endowed with huge potential, especially in the areas of education reform and agriculture innovation. Speaking of EU-Russia relations, Mr. Wei indicated that recent economic sanctions against Russian is a double-edged sword and hopes that the EU and Russia could develop side by side and maintain good relations with China.

Ms. Yaffa Ben-Ari said that China is now playing a more important role in international arena, and Israel highly cherishes the relationship with China. The two countries are complementary in economy and should deepen reciprocal cooperation.

The two also exchanged views on such issues as West Development Strategy of China，currency SWAP and Think Tank exchanges. Mr. Wei also asked Ms. Ben-Ari to recommend former government officials and top Think Tanks of Israel to participate in the forthcoming Fourth Global Think Tank Summit, to be held in Beijing at the end of June this year.