Consul General of Israel in Shanghai Edward Shapira

Editor's Note:

The Fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10 as scheduled. Despite the difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, global traders plan to gather at the annual event online and offline to showcase their products and services in fields such as healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI) and carbon neutrality, looking to boost their performance in the Chinese market.

The Global Times (GT) interviewed 15 foreign diplomats in Beijing and Shanghai about their engagement and expectations for this year's CIIE. Here is：

Edward Shapira
Consul General of Israel in Shanghai 

GT: How does Israel plan to engage in the CIIE despite facing challenges from COVID-19?

Edward Shapira: Israeli companies are participating very actively in this event, presenting water treatment technologies, medical devices and agriculture. Many representatives cannot come to China because of the pandemic, but they will be represented by their Chinese partners.

GT: What are your expectations for the upcoming CIIE?

Edward Shapira: The number of Israeli companies is growing all the time. We consider China as a huge market. Last year, bilateral trade turnover exceeded $15 billion, the highest we ever experienced with China. This represented that China has become our second largest trading partner. Next year, we will celebrate our 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. We will organize a very important meeting on innovation cooperation which represents the possibilities and intention of both sides to explore and deepen our economic relations.