(Jerusalem Post) H.E. Gao Yanping - On May 5, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarked on an official visit to China, the first by an Israeli prime minister since 2007. Two-way trade between China and Israel has increased from $50 million in 1992 to $9.91 billion in 2012. Netanyahu's visit is of great significance, and will promote a new high in China-Israel relations. The friendship between the Chinese and Jewish nations dates back more than 1,000 years. The Jewish people in then-Chinese capital Kaifeng enjoyed equal rights to the Chinese. From the 1880s onward, thousands of Jews went to northeast China because of rising anti-Semitism in Russia and Eastern Europe. Before and during World War II, when Jewish people were struggling for survival against the Nazi Holocaust, Shanghai became the only city in the world open to Jews. The writer is the People's Republic of China's ambassador to Israel.
2013-05-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive