Posted on 04/20/2016 4:59:49 AM PDT by VitacoreVision
Israel and China are set to sign a 10-year multiple entry visa agreement this week, making the Jewish state only the third country, after the United States and Canada, to have such an arrangement with Beijing.
The visa agreement will be signed in the framework of the second meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation, which is taking place Tuesday in Jerusalem. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong is due in Israel for the event and for meetings with senior Israeli officials.
So far, China has 10-year multiple entry visa agreements only with the US and with Canada, so the agreement to be signed this week is a tremendous achievement for Israeli diplomacy, said Hagai Shagrir, the director of the Foreign Ministrys Northeast Asia department.
The deal, which will be signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and her Chinese counterpart, will allow Israeli businesspeople and tourists to enter China multiple times with the same visa, which will be valid for a decade. The same will apply for Chinese citizens visiting Israel, an arrangement which Jerusalem hopes will help increase tourism.
This will dramatically change the travel habits of of both peoples, Shagrir said.
Currently, about 30,000 Chinese citizens visit Israel each year, a number Israel hopes to raise to 100,000 within less than three years, Shagrir said.
Our goal is to increase the number of visits from tourists and businessmen. Already today more than 25 percent of investment in Israeli high tech comes from China and Hong Kong. And Chinese tourists are the best for Israel (in terms of their spending); they leave more money here than any other tourists.
Next month, Chinas Hainan Airlines will commence direct flights to Israel, becoming the first Chinese and the second Asian carrier to do so.
Besides meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, Liu, who last visited Israel in May 2014, will also travel to Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.
China is Israels largest trading partner in Asia and fast becoming perhaps Israels largest trading partner period as we move into the future, Netanyahu said at the time.
Chinese Christians who want to see the Holy Land.
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
No, they want to get their industrial and military spies into the Israeli manufacturing network. First come in as tourists, then students at the universities, then employees of the top manufacturers and government positions, then come back as conquerors.
If you think the Israelis will allow that. They know how to play that game and to win.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.