Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admiring technological innovation during an official visit to China in May, 2013. Photo: Israel GPO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau member Meng Jianzhu that there were very many areas in which the two countries could cooperate and noted that Israel would be very pleased to do so.

At an official reception, Netanyahu welcomed Meng Jianzhu to Jerusalem and said his visit was a sign of the rapidly improving relations between Israel and China.

In a statement, the prime minister’s office also said that Netanyahu conveyed his position on Iran. He said that the pressure on Iran must not be relaxed, and that in the talks between the major powers and Iran, Iran must not be allowed to retain centrifuges and a heavy water reactor, which are used to produce nuclear weapons.