Israeli and Chinese officials signed a $400 million trade agreement during meetings on Wednesday, expanding trade between the two nations to $2.05 billion. The agreement was signed by Israeli and Chinese finance ministers during a meeting attended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. “This is a very important agreement for expanding bilateral cooperation. China is a vast market and if we even slightly increase our market share here it will significantly help the …More

Ron Lauder is re-elected as head of the World Jewish Congress. [JPost] Descendants honor the Jews of Cape Verde's past. [AFP] Benjamin Netanyahu visits a Jewish Chinese quarter. [JPost] Greece is considering an anti-Semitism, Holocaust-denial bill. [Haaretz] Prisoner X botched an Israeli plan to recover bodies. [Forward] Naftali Bennett steps into the Women of the Wall fray. [Times of Israel] Adam Yauch gets his own park in Brooklyn. [USA Today] …More

Benjamin Netanyahu is currently in Shanghai to boost economic cooperation, amid China’s announced interest in helping further the Palestinian peace process. The diplomatic trip marks the first visit by an Israeli prime minister since Ehud Olmert’s time in China in 2007. The government is also hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing. Netanyahu will travel to Beijing on Wednesday, after Abbas’s departure. “The Chinese leadership was recently replaced and it is expected to …More

The Jerusalem Ice City Festival is still bringing in scores of pleased patrons, as adults and children take in the marvels of a frozen city in the middle of the desert. The festival opened in late February and will run through April 30, hosted as part of a partnering between Israel and China. China hosted the world’s first ice sculpture event in 1963, and brought the Ice City Festival to Jerusalem last year to much success. 2013’s festival includes several nods to Chinese culture including a replica …More

David Matas is a Jewish lawyer who has spent the entirety of his career advocating for human rights. That path has included impassioned support for Jewish causes and a near-constant fighting against anti-Semitism. Now, this Canadian counsel is focusing on illegal organ harvesting in China. “One of the lessons we’ve learned from the Holocaust is that human nature does not change,” Matas told The Epoch Times. “What changes is the technology, but the capacity for doing evil remains the …More

Rabbi Anson Laytner, JNS.org After two centuries of slow decline, the Kaifeng Jews of Central China, who now number only in the hundreds, are again struggling to revive their community. Credit this to a moderately more open Chinese society, the Internet, and the intermittent presence of visiting, knowledgeable Western Jews. And, as in past centuries, Christian missionaries are also present, hoping to redirect the Kaifeng Jews along Christian paths. The chief player in the endeavor to convert the Kaifeng Jews is …More

Among the citizens of Shanghai, there remains today a small, tightknit Jewish community. These descendants of European refugees share a stunning history, the story of tireless efforts to pursue freedom in the face of Nazi persecution. Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, state-sponsored anti-Semitism reared its head across Germany, in the forms of the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht in 1938. After that night of broken glass, Jews in Europe were presented with increasingly bleak prospects, as employment, …More

An Israeli venture with a Chinese automobile company is halfway through the testing phase, a trajectory that is ahead of schedule. The Israel Corporation and China’s Chery Automobile teamed up in 2007 as Qoros Auto. Testing for the group’s first model car is expected to be complete soon, with a predicted 2013 date for its first sales. The testing has been underway for about two years. The model, a sedan, will premiere at the Geneva Motor Show this March. The car will be marketed as a compact to …More

You know how Sacha Baron Cohen always stars as the titular character in his movies? Borat, Bruno, The Dictator, and so on? Well, here comes “The Lesbian.” Rumors are swirling that the Jewish funnyman has teamed up with Paramount Pictures to create a film based on the story of Cecil Chao, a Chinese billionaire who made headlines this month after offering $65 million to anyone who could successfully marry his daughter. The daughter, you see, is a lesbian. No word yet on what role Sacha might play in …More

An Israeli energy company is set to build its second outpost in China, as part of a $1.2 million deal. Sea Wave Power Plants (SDE) harnesses the energy of lapping waves to generate 150 kilowatts of energy an hour. Once construction is complete on this second Chinese plant, a third will be built that can generate 500 kilowatts per hour. The cost of production is just 2 cents a kilowatt. This is the 12th energy plant for Sea Wave, including one at its home base in Israel. The Israeli site is powered by a machine …More

Israel will play host later this month to one of the most prestigious youth science events of the year—Asian Science Camp. The camp is an annual gathering of pre-collegiate and college students, bringing together the world’s brightest for lectures and discussion with Nobel prize winners and top scientists. The gathering, which will take place in Jerusalem beginning Aug. 26, is often referred to as “genius camp.” Israel has the most number of youths participating this year, with 35. …More

A combat soldier in the Kfir Infantry Brigade, Sgt. Lee Rosenthal is also one of the best bridge players worldwide. Just last week the Israeli bridge team placed second in the world bridge championship for competitors under the age 21 held in China. The skillful players overcame teams from China, Italy and dozens of other countries, defeated only by the Dutch team by a single point. Among the team members are two IDF soldiers, completing a full service. "We were extremely proud of our achievement," said Sgt. …More