China Israel Photo: VCG

More than 20 high-tech Israeli companies have participated in the ongoing 5th China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world's largest import trade expo, to seek more opportunities and expand their businesses in China. 

Edward Shapira, Consul General of Israel in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the CIIE is very impressive, and he was glad to see that the number of Israeli companies attending the event had doubled from five years ago.

"There is huge interest among Israeli companies in the Chinese market," Shapira said. "China is considered to be a huge, very promising market, especially for innovative products of Israel." 

Israel has the advantage of being innovative, and it needs good and reliable partners, Shapira noted, adding that the expo is a wonderful platform to introduce Israeli innovations in different fields such as water treatment, agriculture, life sciences and the pharmaceutical industry.

At the CIIE, Israeli companies distributed among different venues at the expo, covering areas ranging from agricultural products and medical equipment to various technologies. 

Atlantium Technologies provides water treatment solutions, and it attended the CIIE for the second year. The company brought two new products for their world debuts this year, hoping that the products could be better received by Chinese clients.

"We are a relatively small company and brand building to our specific technology is critical," Itai Bransky, Asia-Pacific regional director of Atlantium Technologies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Thanks to last year's CIIE, the company has been able to establish five joint ventures in China, mostly with universities and some research institutes, Bransky said. He started to look into the localization of the company's products in China during last year's expo, and he hoped to find partners in manufacturing and marketing as well, via the platform this year and in the future. 

Shapira said that Shanghai is a city with a lot of advantages and platforms for Israeli companies, so it will always be attractive.

China-Israel ties have been strengthening, with bilateral trade continuing to grow despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Total bilateral merchandise trade in the third quarter of 2022 rose 6 percent year-on-year, according to data posted on the website of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in October.

The value of Israeli exports to China increased 23 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, with the main products including integrated circuits, semiconductor devices, chemicals and diamonds, according to the CCPIT.