Cabinet Approves Establishment of Two Committees to Strengthen Economic
Cooperation with China

(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

The Cabinet, at its weekly meeting today (Sunday, 19 May 2013), approved the
establishment of two committees the goal of which is to formulate an action
plan for strengthening economic ties between Israel and China, as well as
increase bilateral trade, mutual investments and research and development
initiatives.

The committees were established in wake of the agreement between Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, during
the former's recent visit to China, on establishing bodies in both countries
to strengthen bilateral economic ties.

The committees will work to advance Israeli initiatives and companies in
China's cities, as well as outside China in third countries, and will assist
in reducing bureaucracy for Israeli companies that are operating in China.

The first committee is a ministerial committee to be chaired by Prime
Minister Netanyahu and composed of Economy Minister Naftali Bennett (vice
chairman), Finance Minister Yair Lapid, Health Minister Yael German,
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Yair Shamir, Transportation and
National Infrastructure Minister Yisrael Katz, Minister of Strategic and
Intelligence Affairs Yuval Steinitz and Water and Energy Minister Silvan
Shalom.

The second committee is an inter-ministerial committee to be chaired by
National Economic Council Chairman Prof. Eugene Kandel and composed of the
directors general of the relevant government ministries and other
professional elements.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said: "I attribute significance to the fact that
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said that China's top planning agency,
which is of great importance, will be part of the Chinese committee. This
might allow us to create a growth engine here. We are looking for ways to
increase the pace of GNP growth and opening the Chinese market is certainly
one of the things with the potential to do this. We are ready and will make
all the preparations immediately. Naturally, I hope that we will see a
similar response on the Chinese side. This has important significance in
ensuring growth which, in the end, alongside greater efficiency, is the most
important factor that will allow us to meet our national goals."