China firm to build new Ashdod port for Israel

amoy

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The new Ashdod port is part of the government's effort to offer Israel as a safe alternative for east-west trade. China Harbor, via its Mediterranean Engineering PMEC, is also a candidate to build the cross-Negev railway, which will begin in Eilat and/or neighboring Aqaba in Jordan and terminate in Ashdod – at the new port. According to the government's vision, laid out by Netanyahu in a speech last year, goods will be transported by ship from China and offloaded in Eilat/Aqaba, side-by-side ports at the northern end of the Red Sea, then transported by train to Ashdod and reloaded onto ships bound for Europe. The new route will offer shippers a safe and price-competitive alternative to the current Suez Canal route, Netanyahu said in the speech.

"This project will significantly change the lives of Israelis," Netanyahu said at the signing ceremony. "Ashdod underwent some difficult experiences" during the summer, a reference to the city becoming a prime target for Hamas rocket attacks, "and now we are turning it into a center of world trade, via the rail route to Eilat." The project, added Netanyahu, will "create jobs and lower prices for Israelis."


Read more: China firm to build new Ashdod 'union buster' port | The Times of Israel China firm to build new Ashdod 'union buster' port | The Times of Israel
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amoy

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China’s Bright Food Buys Majority Stake in Israeli grocer Tnuva

China's Bright Food Group has reportedly upped the stake it plans to buy in Israeli grocer Tnuva to 70%.

The Chinese food and drink firm confirmed plans to buy 56% of Tnuva from UK private-equity firm Apax Partners last May, in a deal that valued the Israeli food maker at about US$2.5bn.

The deal has, however, been delayed, prompting concerns Bright could pull out.

According to Reuters, a spokesperson for Bright said the delay is due to "changes in the equity structure of the purchase" but confirmed the stake would now be over 70 percent and it would look to close the deal by April.

No-one from Bright Foods or Apax responded to just-food's requests for comment.
 

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Alibaba Invests in Israeli Cyber-Security




5,000 people from 50 countries are in Tel Aviv for Cybertech 2015 International Conference & Exhibition.

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group has announced that it is investing in Jerusalem Venture Partners to work with Israeli cyber-security startups and protect itself from hackers. The news comes as Cybertech 2015, Israel’s flagship international cyber-tech conference, kicks off in Tel Aviv.

More than 5,000 people from 50 countries are in Tel Aviv for the two-day conference and exhibition, considered one of the biggest international cyber solutions conferences in the world.

Some 20 Alibaba executives are taking part in the local conference and Jason Yu, chief risk officer at Alipay, is scheduled to speak.

The Israeli Calcalist financial newspaper reported the Alibaba investment to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

In related news, Solebit LABS, a developer of cyber-security solutions that protect networks from zero-day attacks and APTs at the delivery phase, has announced a $2 million funding round from Glilot Capital Partners.

“Solebit thwarts zero-day attacks and APTs by inspecting every file or object before allowing it into the network, eliminating every possible condition in which a stream with executable code is permitted entry,” said Boris Vaynberg, who co-founded the company with Meni Farjon and Yossi Sara, entrepreneurs with years of experience in defensive and offensive cyber-security approaches and all graduates of elite technology units in the Israel Defense Forces.

“This represents a new approach because we’re not trying to guess at the motives, methods or deduce suspicious activity: if a stream includes code, it is quarantined. By creating a ‘no code zone’ around the network, our solution prevents attacks at the delivery phase, before the need for costly remediation.”
 

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Shanghai Moves Into Haifa Port

YERUSHALAYIM - The Chinese have made another inroad into the Israeli economy, as Shanghai International Port Group won the government tender to operate the new port in Haifa for 25 years.

The announcement follows the awarding of a tender in 2014 to China Harbor to build the new Ashdod Port over seven years at a cost of around NIS 3.6 billion.

SIPG, which operates primarily in the Far East, is one of the world’s leading companies in the container cargo field, operating cargo terminals at the world’s largest port in Shanghai, as well as various ports in Europe.

In 2014, SIPG-operated cargo terminals handled a total of some 35 million containers. In comparison, Israel’s ports during the same period handled around 2.5 million containers.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz hailed it as “an historic day for Israel. The Chinese group that won the tender will bring competition to the sector.

“The new ports will create thousands of new jobs and lead to a drop in the cost of living. It’s an expression of confidence in the state of Israel on the part of a superpower, which has decided to invest billions of shekels in Israel and turn it into an international cargo center for all the world.”
 

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Israel set to bring in 20,000 Chinese construction workers
Gov't OKs permits for 20,000 Chinese workers


The government on Sunday approved plans to permit roughly 20,000 Chinese guest workers to come to Israel and work in construction, a step it says will help speed up building and bring down the cost of housing.

“We are doing this in order to accelerate the construction of new apartments,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“In my view, this is a necessary and important step to lower housing prices. As with every step there are always side costs, but the overall considerations vis-à-vis the ability to build many apartments, thereby increasing supply, will in the end allow us to change price trends.”

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said the influx of workers would both reduce the labor costs of construction workers and expedite the process of building tall buildings by 20%-30%. That would shave some NIS 50,000 off construction costs, though not all of those savings would be passed to consumers. The Association of Renovation Contractors said the influx would also reduce renovation prices some 7%, as nearly a third of the associated costs went to labor.

The Chinese workers, he said, were “a quality and skilled labor force that is a critical factor for increasing the supply.” The Finance Ministry estimated that in terms of productivity, workers from China were twice as efficient as Palestinian construction workers.

The decision will be reviewed in two years at the behest of Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

For several years, Israel has been in negotiations with China’s government over a bilateral framework for bringing in more construction workers. Sunday’s plan went forward without such an agreement, and instead will operate via Chinese state-owned manpower companies and a separate set of supervisory mechanisms.

Early last year, the Association of Contractors and Builders in Israel warned that the government’s inability to seal a deal with China on new workers made the state overly reliant on Palestinian labor. At the time, roughly 28,000 of Israel’s construction workers were Palestinian, and just 5,000 from China or Europe. A major security incident could endanger Israeli building, the association warned at the time.

The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, a business alliance, praised Sunday’s decision.

“Labor inputs are a central component of the cost and efficiency of construction. Israel’s government has taken a correct decision, which must be set in motion immediately,” said FICC deputy director-general Dan Carmeli.

But the decision, which came just a few weeks after Netanyahu declared that Israel could not take on any Syrian refugees, raised ire from opposition parties.

Labor MK Shelly Yacimovich likened the decision to slave trafficking, and said that “the government is seriously hurting the poorest workers in Israel.”

Average foreign workers earn roughly half of their Israeli counterparts, but still takes in more than the minimum wage, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
 

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China to Assist Israel in Construction of Island in Mediterranean Sea

China’s experience of building islands in the sea may now come in handy for Israel as its first Deputy Prime Minister, Yisrael Katz, proposed a project to create an artificial island off the coast of Gaza Strip in the Mediterranean Sea.

Katz sees this initiative as a platform for international cooperation. Among the countries that could take part in this project, he sees Russia and China.

The island is planned to be constructed at around 4.5 kilometers from the coast. It will be equipped with a seaport, an airport, sea water desalination plant, power station and a hotel. There are no residential houses planned on the island.

The island will be connected to the Gaza Strip by a bridge. According to Yisrael Katz, this is inherently an economic project, but it carries a strategic and political importance as well. As stated by Katz, the program will greatly facilitate lives of residents of the Gaza Strip as it will be an important step on the path to civil dissociation from Israel.

In an interview with Sputnik, Professor of the Center for the Study of International Relations at China’s University, Yan Mian, said, “If this project will help improve the situation around Gaza Strip, or help Gaza, for example, in terms of fresh water, or construction of the port that will somehow able to eradicate civilian life problems in Gaza, then China will consider taking part in such a project.”

China’s expert from the Diplomatic Academy, Ren Yuanzhe, also shared his views on this matter with Sputnik saying that, “First of all, China attaches great importance to peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Secondly, the construction of the islands can also help pacify the situation in the region.”

The expert further noted that China initiated the establishment of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, offered to build interconnection of transport and communication on an international scale. There are already preliminary projects of the AIIB in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

“Therefore, the future of construction in the Middle East could become a platform for a joint international effort,” Yuanzhe said.

Russia is one of the leading powers that may be able to participate in such a project as Russia has the necessary experience and knowledge about the Middle East, as well as good connections to the heads of State in the region, the Israeli politician Yisrael Katz said.

According to the Washington Post’s report on this initiative, the Jewish state is actively seeking financial partners for the 5 billion dollar project. Chinese participation would reflect the geopolitical aspirations of the economic diplomacy of Beijing.

Talking about China’s geopolitical interests in the region, known Israeli political scientist and president of the Institute of Eastern Partnership, Rabbi Abraham Shmulevich, said “In fact, it is an old idea about the construction of an artificial island. It was put forward many years ago more than a decade ago, by Shimon Peres, then Prime Minister.”

“The idea from the technological point of view is doable. In terms of political and economic perspective it is also clear enough. Why was China invited to participate? There is absolutely no surprise there because China is very careful, smartly and consistently increasing its presence in the region around Israel,” Smulevich said.

He further said that China has huge investment projects across Africa and the Middle East and has also consistently invested in global transport infrastructure.

“The strategic and economic objectives are clear: to become a real world power, to control the flow of goods and to stop being a country that is completely dependent on Western technology and investment,” Smulevich explained talking about China’s agenda.

He further said that China is already implementing transportation projects in Israel.

“The Chinese always offer very good investment conditions, since the aim is not only to obtain economic benefits, but also geopolitical goals — strengthening the country's influence. China has consistently taken control of the world's transport infrastructure. China’s participation in the Israeli project would be one such example,” the expert said.

When asked what prompted the First Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Yisrael Katz, to view China as a potential participant of this mega-project, the chief editor of the Tel Aviv publishing house News Week, Leonid Belotserkovski, said, “What pushes them mainly is the fact that the Chinese construct quite fast and deliver a high quality product. I can say that these guys construct marvelously.”

He further said that the Chinese are already involved in building Israeli port of Ashdod which is a new Israeli, modern port.

“The Chinese are generally active in the Israeli economy, especially in the sphere of high technology, where Israel is a world leader. That is a bit dangerous but what can you do,” Belotserkovski said.


He further added that the role of Israel's high-tech development in China is pretty large. In China’s agriculture, a lot is done by the Israeli experts, including breeders, who have special farms. Therefore, the cooperation is mutually beneficial,” the editor concluded.
 

Indx TechStyle

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Good to see China getting comfortable with India's close allies.
They are already ally.
Same goes for India who is close to Muslim world(except you) as well as Israel.
Only pakis mix diplomacy with personal emotions.:p
Be it China, USA, Russia or India, all are in bed with Arabs, Iranians and Israelis at the same time.
 

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Chinese group to buy Israel’s Spacecom satellite operator for $285 million
by Peter B. de Selding — August 24, 2016

The sale of satellite fleet operator Spacecom of Israel to a Beijing conglomerate is pending the successful launch, scheduled for Sept. 3 by SpaceX, of the Amos-6 telecommunications satellite. Credit: Spacecom

PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts – Satellite fleet operator Space Communications (Spacecom) of Israel’s principal shareholders on Aug. 24 said they had agreed to sell the company to a Beijing conglomerate that has created a Luxembourg entity to manage the business for $285 million in cash.

The transaction’s terms are pending the successful entry into service of Spacecom’s Amos-6 telecommunications satellite, built by Israel Aerospace Industries and scheduled for launch Sept. 3 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Spacecom’s satellite fleet, three satellites plus the coming Amos-6, will continue to be operated from Israeli territory under the terms of the agreement.

Spacecom’s owners, led by privately held Israeli telecommunications group Eurocom, have been trying to sell the company for several years. On recent attempted transaction with Spanish satellite fleet operator Hispasat came undone because of Israeli regulatory issues.

Spacecom’s shareholders, but not Spacecom itself, issued a statement Aug. 24 saying the sales price represents a 41 percent premium over where Spacecom stock was trading before rumors of the sale surfaced. Spacecom is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

According to the statement, Beijing Xinwei Technology Group is buying Spacecom and will integrate it into an existing Luxembourg company called Luxembourg Space Telecommunication S.A., which will be the legal purchaser of Spacecom.

Beijing Xinwei also owns an Israeli company, named Big Bird Ltd., which will handle the transaction and assure a continued Israeli presence for the company’s assets.

Spacecom Chief Executive David Pollack said in a statement that the transaction will give the company room to grow in a challenging market.

“The global market of communication satellites is undergoing a consolidation process, enabling the merging companies to improve their competitiveness,” Pollack said.

“Further to contacts with various entities, the negotiations with the Beijing Xinwei Group matured into this transaction, reflecting a substantial premium on the market price. Beijing Xinwei is a strategic partner, expert in the field of telecommunication, planning to expand its business in the communication satellites field. The merger will provide the Company with financial strength, and will enable further development and growth. The transaction is performed in accordance with Space Communication’s license terms, stipulating, inter alia, that the satellites will be operated from Israel, and that the Company shall remain an Israeli company, regardless of the identity of the shareholders of the Company.

Spacecom shareholders described Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co. Ltd. as “a Chinese conglomerate with vast global operations, inter alia, in the USA, Ireland, Russia, Nicaragua, Brazil and more. The company provides solutions to telecom providers, and active in the cellular communication field, equipment sales, and communication satellites. The company is traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange at a market price of US$ 7.6 billion, and its balance sheet present assets in the amount of US$ 2.7 billion. Xinwei was incorporated in December 1995, by two telecom researchers, Chen Wei and Xu Guanhan and other entities. Xinwei’s headquarter is located in Beijing, China.”

- See more at: http://spacenews.com/62659-2/#sthash.4HUmAXZE.dpuf
 

Tshering22

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Good to see China getting comfortable with enemies of Muzzies ..............by the way China is already comfortable with India and they have invested more than 100 billion $ in India .
Chinese don't mind Islam outside China.

Once Sharia comes in conflict with CCP, then see how they deal with the middle eastern religion.
 

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6000 Chinese construction workers to arrive in Israel
Government announces that China has agreed to send 6000 construction workers to Israel to "energise efforts to solve the housing crisis."
Nearly 9,000 foreign construction labourers work in Israel, all of them from east European countries and half of them under bilateral agreements, according to the interior ministry. The ministry says these agreements allow for the rights of foreign workers to be protected and cut out private manpower firms that charge high commissions and exploit migrant labourers.
 

amoy

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China's Deeper than ocean and sweeter than honey friends will be very much pleased :)
Jews are very grateful of Chinese generosity.

Ehud Olmert
Olmert's father Mordechai, a pioneer of Israel's land settlement and a former member of the Second and Third Knessets, grew up in the Chinese city of Harbin, where he led the local Betar youth movement. Olmert's grandfather J. J. Olmert settled in Harbin after fleeing post-World War I Russia.[110] In 2004, Olmert visited China and paid his respects at the tomb of his grandfather in Harbin. Olmert said that his father had never forgotten his Chinese hometown after moving to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, in 1933 at the age of 22. "When he died at the age of 88, he spoke his last words in Mandarin Chinese", he recalled.
Israel has awarded many strategic projects to Chinese firms, allowed Chinese to buy their important companies and assets, and access their technology. Chinese keep a low key unlike Indians who boast of Israel as their "ally".
 

hit&run

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Jews are very grateful of Chinese generosity.

Ehud Olmert


Israel has awarded many strategic projects to Chinese firms, allowed Chinese to buy their important companies and assets, and access their technology. Chinese keep a low key unlike Indians who boast of Israel as their "ally".
Look who is talking about boasting. A person who has open a thread to boast about China Israel cooperation. If an Indian opens a thread about Indo-Israel cooperation then it may run many pages.

The boast is on you, keep boasting without flame-bait. It will be good for you and your thread.
 

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