Israel advocacy organisation, StandWithUs, has announced the opening of StandWithUs China, a division of StandWithUs-Asia at the organisation’s new Jerusalem-based Israel Education Centre. A special gala event took place in March in conjunction to also celebrate the Chinese New Year and Tu B’Shvat.

The 13-year-old, international, apolitical, Israel education organisation is being led by StandWithUs Asia Director Ayala Sherman-Oren and China Programming Coordinator, Lechao Tang.

Sherman-Oren, who developed StandWithUs Asia while living in China with her husband, explains: “Our goal is to reach out and introduce the people of Asia to the real Israel, its unique society and culture, its robust technology, its booming high-tech and start-up scene, and its incredible economic outreach. Utilising social media, university programmes and networking events, our objective is to connect and cultivate relationships between Israel’s and Asia’s business professionals and social leaders.”

StandWithUs created a series of videos about Israeli life, business and innovation, which have been widely shared and seen on Chinese social media networks. ‘8000 KM’ which gets its name from the distance between Beijing and Jerusalem, has Chinese-speaking Israeli hosts reporting news and interesting stories that occur between China and Israel.