Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Wednesday, where the two witnessed the signing of a series of trade and cultural deals. Netanyahu's arrival on a five-day trip to China overlapped with a journey by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, but the two Middle Eastern visitors did not meet each other.
The Israeli leader was greeted with full military honours including a 19-gun salute outside the Great Hall of the People in the capital, and called for closer trade ties between the two nations. "Our two peoples are two ancient peoples with a glorious past, a difficult in-between period, and then soaring into the future," Netanyahu told Li. "I think Israel can be the perfect junior partner for China in its pursuit of economic excellence and competitive advantage by offering our technological capabilities," he said. No details of the agreements were immediately available.