Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park (Z-Park), also known as "China's Silicon Valley", will open a liaison office in Tel Aviv. Zhongguancun is the home of many Chinese tech giants, like Lenovo, Baidu, Xiaomi, emerging technology companies and China's leading Universities.
The announcement of the planned liaison office was made at a meeting held earlier this week between Beijing vice mayor Yin Hejun, and Tel Aviv deputy mayor Doron Sapir. A senior delegation from Beijing Municipality, and high-level executives of Z-Park also attended the event.
Beijing and Tel Aviv have been twin cities for the past 20 years, while in recent years cooperation between the cities has increased dramatically in areas such as technology, municipal knowledge exchange, education, culture, art and more. The opening of an official Beijing office for economy, high-tech and science issues in Tel Aviv further strengthens relations between the cities. Zhongguancun Israeli liaison office will serve as a base for Chinese companies seeking to do business in Israel, and for Israeli companies seeking business opportunities in China.
Sapir said, "Beijing and Tel Aviv, like China and Israel, are completely different in size, but share many common values: Adopting technology and modernization, cherishing education, and striving to always improve our municipal systems. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai has defined the relationship with Beijing as a prime strategic goal for our foreign relations. In recent years we've seen dramatic increase in the number of delegations and visits from Beijing to Tel Aviv and vice versa. The opening of a Beijing economic office here in Tel Aviv is an important development that we welcome with pleasure."
Hejun said, "We are thrilled to announce this liaison office in Tel Aviv, which is the center of the Israeli ecosystem, as another step in the cooperation between our cities. The Chinese government attributes great importance to Zhongguancun science park, as home to innovation and breakthrough technologies. Last year, the combined turnover of high-tech industries in Z-Park exceeded 5 trillion RMB (almost $800 billion). In recent years we established 10 liaison offices of the park worldwide, including the US. Today we announce the 11th office in Tel Aviv. We know how famous Tel Aviv is for its innovation, and openness to new ideas. We have a lot to learn from you."
Operated by Shengjing Group, the biggest Chinese-related global VC & PE fund of funds, Zhongguancun Israel Liaison Office will be the link of communication and cooperation between the Zhongguancun and Israeli innovation eco-system.
Zhongguancun?Z-Park) is the most intensive scientific, education and talent resource base in China. As the most dynamic hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in China Zhongguancun caters for nearly 20,000 high-tech enterprises operating, including tech giants like Lenovo, Baidu, Xiaomi and JD, world famous Chinese Universities and more.
Zhongguancun boasts almost 40 colleges and universities like Peking University and Tsinghua University, more than 200 national (municipal) scientific institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 67 state-level laboratories, 27 national engineering research centers, 28 national engineering and technological research centers, 24 university science and technology parks and 29 overseas student pioneer parks.
So far, Zhongguancun has 10 overseas liaison offices in different areas, including Silicon Valley, Washington DC, Munich, Toronto, London, Finland, Sydney, and Tokyo. The Israel liaison office will be a very important bridge between the Beijing and Tel Aviv innovation ecosystems.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 10, 2018
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