High-level talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and China’s leadership this week in Beijing focused on economic issues, in particular the possibility of Israel receiving special status for Chinese investments.

In his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jingping and Prime Minister Li Kegiang, Mr Netanyahu stressed the need for Israel to be exempt from the a recent law passed by the Chinese regime against their businesspeople investing capital overseas.

The prime minister told reporters he had asked President Jingping for an waiver because Israel is “a special case. It’s a technology powerhouse that has no market. It has significance for technology but it doesn’t have any significance in terms of volume on markets or currencies.”

Around a third of foreign investment in recent years in Israeli tech companies has come from Chinese sources and Mr Netanyahu said that investment would have to continue for the Chinese to obtain Israeli technology.

For their part, the Chinese have complained about restrictions on the export of technology. While Israeli entrepreneurs are naturally eager for Chinese investment, the security services have expressed concerns over the transfer of certain technology products.