China–Israel relations

Sino-Israeli relations

Israel	China

China–Israel relations are the diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties between the People's Republic of China and the State of Israel.

Israel was the first country in the Middle East to recognize the PRC as the legitimate government of China. However, China did not establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel until 1992. Since then, Israel and China have developed increasingly close commercial, military and strategic links. Israel maintains an embassy in Beijing and is planning to open a new consulate in Chengdu, its third in mainland China. China is Israel's third largest trading partner globally, and largest trading partner in Asia. Trade volume increased from $50 million in 1992 to over $10 billion in 2013. The similarities between the cultures and values of the two nations, sharing of deep ancient roots as well as convergence of economic interests has served two respective countries greatly with respect economic, diplomatic and cultural ties. In addition, China is one of the few countries in the world to concurrently maintain good relations with Israel, Iran, Palestine, and the Muslim world at large.

For some time after the 1949 Chinese revolution, the People's Republic of China was diplomatically isolated, because the United States and its allies (including Israel) recognized the Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) as the legitimate government of China. During the 1955 Asian–African Conference, China expressed support for the Palestinian right of return, but refrained from denying Israel's right to exist and secretly pursued trade ties with the Israelis. Until the 1980s, China refused to grant visas to Israelis unless they held dual citizenship and carried a passport of a country other than Israel. However, following the Sino-Soviet split and China's 1979 establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States, China began to develop a series of secret, non-official ties with Israel.

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