Here is the Dr. Eyal Propper’s speech.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Thanks to the organizers of the event. Thank you for organizing a great meeting and invited me to share my insights on the good relationship between Israel and China and the "secrets" of Israel's technological innovation. I would like to welcome everyone to visit Israel and to invest in it. At the same time, we will cultivate friendship with the Israeli business community and find better opportunities for cooperation between China and Israel.

From the map, Israel and China are not far from each other. Both of us are in Asia. In 1992, when China and Israel established diplomatic relations, there were only flights from Beijing to Israel. Now we have flights by Hainan Airlines from Shanghai to Israel three times a week, and it brings many business people and tourists to Israel. Last year, more than 100,000 Chinese tourists visited Israel and our goal is to reach 200,000 visitors this year.

We have a close relationship between Jews and Chinese. President Xi’s strategy of “The Belt and Road Initiative” is based on the ancient Silk Road. Historically, many Jews came to China through the ancient Silk Road. During the Song Dynasty, a group of Jews settled in Kaifeng and established the earliest Jewish community.

During the Second World War, 20,000 Jews came to Shanghai and many of them were rich. A lot of buildings near the Bund were built by the Jewish family at that time and they also made great contributions to the prosperity of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Moreover, eighty years ago, during the Second World War, a group of Jews fled from Europe, and Shanghai provided them with shelter. The Shanghainese opened their doors to the Jews, even though they had hard lives. We have always remembered the history, which also witnessed the permanent friendship between the Jews and the Chinese. We also hope that we can jointly hold the 80th anniversary of the Jews in Shanghai this year.

Israel was a very important partner of China’s “The Belt and Road Initiative” and a founding member of the AIIB. China and Israel can establish great cooperation and jointly participate in the construction of the “One Belt and One Road Initiative”.

We also hope that more and more Chinese businessmen will visit Israel. We are able to find many cooperation points between China and Israel. Many companies from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai have already had good cooperation with Israel. Mr. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba visited Israel twice last year. The governments of the two countries have also maintained good cooperation. Our Prime Minister, Netanyahu, visited China two years ago.

Why Israel is strong in innovation?

Israel is very innovative which is based on the power to respect science and technology innovation. Although Israel is a small country with a population of only 8.9 million, which is similar to Suzhou, it has many outstanding achievements in innovation. Thanks to our innovative spirit, and in many areas such as the pharmaceutical sector, our innovative achievements are ranked No.1 in the world.

Our former president, Simon Peres, had a famous motto, "We have nothing, only the sun, the desert, the human brain and the endless dreams."

Talking about Israeli dream, I would like to mention Israel’s first spaceship to the moon. It will land on the moon on April 11. I believe that Israel will become the 4^th country after the United States, Russia, and China which had succeeded in landing on the moon. This great achievement is based on Israeli dreams and wisdom.

Eight years ago, a group of young scholars decided to follow Google’s innovative spirit and launched small satellites on the moon. Although the government supported their practices, they did not provide any financing. Some private companies and philanthropists gave donations to the young dreamers who built the satellite by themselves.

Through this real story, you can know our innovative ideas. These young scholars believe that their dreams will be realized by efforts, and this is the pillar of Israeli strong economy. Israel is lack of resources and the only resources are the wisdom and brain of the people. We believe that Israel can survive in the Middle East and become a very powerful country.

I believe that military power is not a measure of country’s economic power, but the wisdom of the people and advanced technology are an important factor. Why did Israeli win many Nobel Prizes? It is because that we always want to break the traditional way of thinking, and keep thinking about what kind of things can bring happiness to human beings. I believe that many Chinese people think in the same way. The Chinese and the Israeli share the same cognition and wisdom, and the potential for future cooperation will be unlimited.

Innovation is the key to realize dreams and we are not afraid of failure. We will continue to explore new ways of innovation even though we fail. It is an important spirit of the Israelis to take risks. You must break the traditional way of thinking. What’s more, you should not rest on your laurels and you must constantly have new ideas. This kind of thinking can help you to move to the next step of innovation. This is also the reason of why Israel is constantly introducing new ideas.

Chinese parents always ask their children how much scores they get at school, and how many questions they answered correctly. Unlike Chinese parents, Israeli always ask their children whether they have asked questions and what kind of questions. Israelis like asking questions and "whys". By thinking about problems, we can continue to enter new areas and innovate them. This is Israel.

In the university, we also teach students this spirit. We don't tell them that they should do this or do that; instead, we encourage them to ask questions. As parents, we also encourage children to challenge adults and ask questions, even if you feel that you know everything.

When we are 18 years old, we must perform military service. We believe that if we join the army, we can cultivate sense of responsibility and spirit of perseverance. The spirit of braveness and risk-taking that you learn during the military process will guide your life.

Even if we are a small country with a population of just over 8 million, everyone has enough courage and energy to do the work of twenty or thirty people. We can work on a small team and are not afraid of failure. We have our own dreams. When develop to a new process, we know that we can do more, and our innovative ways of thinking give us a lot of power.

I hope that Israeli companies will go public on the Shanghai Science and Technology Board

We are a small country with advanced technology, and we need markets. In General, our target markets are not in Israel, but in the United States, Europe and China.

Israel is an immigrant country and has good cooperation with global Jews outside Israel. We have strong political and economic relations with the United States and do a lot of civil cooperation. Many Israelis settle and work in the United States and they are the bond of friendship between the two countries. From this point, I would like to welcome Chinese student to study in Israel. In the future, these young Chinese will become business ambassadors to promote the development of business between Israel and China.

Israel is a small country, but our funds and financing are sufficient. The Israeli stock market has a very close relationship with the New York counterpart. Some Israeli companies are not only listed in Israel but also overseas. Moreover, we also have some companies listed in Hong Kong but no company has been listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange by now.

In the future, we hope that Israeli companies can be listed on the Shanghai Science and Technology Board, and we need more investment. Last but not least, I also hope that Israeli funds can go out and lead in broader markets.