Chinese gov't rents space for Tel Aviv cultural center

The Chinese government has signed a lease for 1,015 square meters in a new building at 30 Habarzel Street in the Ramat Hahayal industrial zone in Tel Aviv, the same neighborhood in which the Chinese embassy is being built. The site, already in the advanced stages of construction, was purchased by Amot Investments Ltd. (TASE:AMOT) from the Taiber family last November for NIS 250 million. The Chinese government will pay NIS 20 million for the lease, including NIS 14.5 million in rent and payments for adjusting the building to its needs, and will establish a cultural center there. The lease was negotiated by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Chinese cultural attache in Israel Wan Ting. The Chinese government acquired the Comverse Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSI) building for its embassy 18 months ago, paying NIS 200 million.

Wan Ting said that the decision to establish a cultural center in Israel was part of his country's general strategy of making Chinese culture accessible in all the countries with which China has strategic, diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties. "The Chinese Ministry of Culture is therefore planning to establish a cultural center, where lessons in Chinese martial arts, language, painting, dance, and cuisine will be given, in addition to exhibitions and a library," Ting said, adding that most of the team for founding and operating the center had already been hired, and would arrive in Israel in August. The target date for opening the center to visitors is October 2017. Advocates Moshe Moyal and Yoav Malachi from the Gindi Caspi law firm, in cooperation with Advocate Ella Taiber, represented the Chinese government in the deal.

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on March 30, 2017

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