Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said in Beijing Tuesday that China and Israel have great potential in economic and trade cooperation and China welcomes Israel to play amore active role in its economic development.

In a meeting with Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Wu said China and Israel are highly complementary in economic and trade cooperation and China encourages Israel to participate in its strategy of developing the west region and northeast industrial base.

China and Israel established full diplomatic ties in 1992 and the trade volume between the two sides has increased nearly 30 times during the past 12 years.

Wu said the two sides have signed many agreements in trade, investment and technology during the past years and bilateral cooperation in the above fields have produced remarkable results.

Olmert, who is also Israel's industry and trade minister, said Israel and China share many common interests and he hoped the cooperation in trade and technology between the two sides could be further accelerated with his China tour.

Olmert is in China at the invitation of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The deputy prime minister and his delegation will also visit Shanghai, China's economic hub and Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2004)