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Home to the world’s largest population and second largest – but fastest growing – economy, penetrating the lucrative Chinese market is a key objective for many enterprises in Israel and worldwide.For those targeting the mammoth Chinese import market, valued at over $2 trillion in 2018, there are few grander platforms than the China International Import Expo (CIIE), hosted annually by the Chinese government in the global financial hub of Shanghai and opened by President Xi Jinping.Even the shadow of the China-US trade war has not prevented a growing list of American companies from seeking accelerated access to the Chinese market and setting up booths at the event, which takes place at Shanghai’s huge National Exhibition and Convention Center, a conference complex spanning more than 1.5m. square-meters.Preparations are currently underway for the third expo of its kind, taking place November 5-10.On Thursday, representatives from the CIIE and the Chinese Embassy in Israel hosted local businessmen and women at Tel Aviv’s Carlton Hotel, encouraging them to join almost 4,000 enterprises and over 400,000 participants attending CIIE.“In today’s globalized economy, it is not about developing and going forward by ourselves – developing is about holding hands and developing together,” Dai Yuming, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy, told potential expo attendees.“The friendship between the Chinese and Israeli people is long-lasting. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the economic and trading cooperation between China and Israel has developed more than any other field.”During the last decade, Israeli exports to China soared by 402%, according to data published last week by the Foreign Trade Administration. Bilateral trade between Israel and China reached approximately $14b. in 2018, with some 22% of all Israeli exports now destined for Asia.Conditions for participation in CIIE include both exhibitors and exhibits originating from outside China. Foreign companies already manufacturing products in China are unable to present at the conference, where standard booths in the indoor 500,000 square-meter exhibition hall cost $3,000 per nine square-meters.Major Israeli companies have previously participated in the expo, including digital healthcare firm G Medical Innovations; portable radiography system developer Vidisco; air-to-water technology producer Watergen; and skincare manufacturer Christina Cosmeceuticals.Demonstrating peak interest in specific sectors, a number of exhibition halls at CIIE are dedicated to fields including automotive, intelligent industry and medical equipment technologies, in addition to food products and consumer goods.For Sabine Segal, deputy director-general for international business affairs at the Israel Export Institute, CIIE can greatly contribute “to the promotion and strengthening of bilateral trade” between Israel and China. The relations between our countries , as we all well know, have expanded significantly in the past 10 years. With the years, we see a growing understanding of the business culture, needs and aspirations of business communities in Israel and China,” Segal said.“The potential of our commercial cooperation is unlimited. The tremendous flow of business delegations of Israel to China and China to Israel, and the volume of business deals reached, is a great testament to that.”