In a further move to expand existing agricultural trade and research opportunities between Israel and China, Israel’s Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and China’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Yu Xinrong have signed a joint action plan for future collaborations, in the hope of doubling agricultural trade volume between the two nations over the next five years.

The signing ceremony took place on 19 November at the Israeli Agriculture Ministry in the presence of China’s Vice Prime Minister Wang Yang. This was a follow-up to an August meeting between the Israeli and Chinese agriculture ministers in Beijing.

The joint action plan aims to promote co-operation between the two nations in the sector, specifically focusing on bilateral trade, knowledge exchanges and collaborative research projects, the Israeli Agriculture Ministry explained.

“We are excited about the economic and trade co-operation between Israel and China,” Minister Ariel said. “There are many successes, but it is not enough. There is more to do to broaden the bilateral ties, and the purpose of this meeting was to advance further achievements. Let us increase our exports to Asia and, thereby, help farmers, as well as limit the European boycott.”

By continually strengthening co-operation, the action plan aims to speed up agricultural trade volume between China and Israel to US$450 million by 2020. According to Itzik BenDavid, the Agriculture Ministry’s deputy director-general for foreign trade and international relations, Israel is currently exporting about US$60 million worth of food products to China and about US$2.5 billion worth of food products globally. It imports about US$180million worth of food products from China, and about US$5.5 billion worth of food products from the rest of the world.