On January 17th, H.E. Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel, addressed his New Year congratulations to Chinese people. Prime Minister Netanyahu said the people of China would continue to amaze the world with remarkable pace of progress and prosperity, and the coming year would also bring deepening friendship between the two peoples. He said this year marks the 20th year of diplomatic relations between China and Israel, but the friendship between the Jewish and Chinese people stretched back many centuries. Jewish communities flourished in China in Kaifeng, Harbin, Tianjin and Shanghai. Israeli never forgot in their greatest hour of needs China became the safest haven for thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. The bilateral relations barely scratch the surface of what the two great civilizations can do together in technology, agriculture, science, medicine and so many other fields. Israel and China would brace modernity and transform the world.