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

Tel Aviv University and China’s Tsinghua University signed a broad-reaching collaboration agreement to develop life sciences research and development in China.

In a statement reported by Israel’s Globes business daily, the two universities said they plan to create a research center to be called XIN, which means “new” in Chinese. They will dedicate “hundreds of millions of dollars”  to set up the research institute which will focus on life sciences and nanotechnology, and co-ordinate frequently with high-tech industry.

The agreement between the two educational institutions comes as China seeks to harness Israeli innovation, in major ways, including establishing a technology incubator in Israel and beefing up the frequency of flights between the two countries to facilitate business interaction.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited China officially in May, where he said, “The future belongs to those who lead in innovation and technology,” adding that Israel manufactures  “more intellectual property than any other country in the world in relation to its size. If we create a partnership between Israel’s inventive capability and China’s manufacturing capability, we will have a winning combination.”