Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in dedicating the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation's Israeli Innovation Center on Thursday.
The center was launched as part of the Prime Minister's Conference on Innovation at the Tel Aviv Convention Center.
Speaking at the event, Wang said Peres had been "a close friend of China."
"His intelligence, wisdom and vision brought the two countries together," he said.
"Israel is known in the entire world by its innovative character," Wang said, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between Israel and China, countries he said were both driven toward innovation.
Also in attendance at the event, were Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev, Economy and Industry Minister Eli Cohen, a number of Chinese ministers, chairman of multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group Jack Ma and members of the Peres family.
Netanyahu told the gathering that the center aimed to show that "peace and innovation actually go together. Innovation is not merely an engine of progress; it is an engine of peace."
"Quite a few of the neighboring countries that are reaching out to Israel and normalizing relations with Israel, which is a step towards peace [are doing so] because of innovation," he said. "They want our innovation not merely for security reasons. They want it for civilian reasons. They want it for water, they want it for health, they want it for IT [information technology], they want it for solar energy, they want it for everything.
"They look around the region … as do other countries, and they see Israel as a hub of innovation that can offer a better, safer, richer life and a longer life for their peoples. And this is happening right here and right now in the Middle East. It's a boon to peace."
Netanyahu said that one area in which he and Peres saw "completely eye to eye" was innovation. He said that when Peres spoke about either peace or innovation, "his eyes sparkled. He had a tremendous confidence in the youth of Israel and the genius of Israel. And I think it's important to understand that here's where we saw completely eye to eye."
Peres's idea, Netanyahu said, was for the masses across the Middle East to see the promise in technology and innovation, and that when that happened, "ultimately progress would win over medievalism."
"I think there is a great deal of truth there. This is why I think this combination of peace and innovation goes hand in hand. And I'm sure you'll be hearing about these combinations in the coming weeks and months and years in ways that will make this a much more concrete materialization."
Touching on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Netanyahu said, "We [in Israel] always thought that if we solved the Palestinian problem it would open up the doors to peace with the broader Arab world. And that's certainly true if you could do it. But it may mean that equally true and perhaps even truer is that if you open up to the Arab world and you normalize relations with them it will open the door for an eventual reconciliation and peace with the Palestinians."
We should do both," he said, "but I think you should not underestimate the openness and the thirst in the Arab world today for Israel. And the reason, the first reason before anything else, is that we're there in innovation."
In what was one of the highlights of the event, a hologram of the late president, recorded before his death two years ago, addressed attendees, telling them that his vision was for the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation to be "a place for dreams, a place that expresses the desire to leave the next generation with a better and brighter future."
"The future is made of the dreams of today. … We have the power to create change and the opportunity to have an impact. A revolution against convention is necessary. It requires daring, dissatisfaction, and healthy and vibrant chutzpah.
Peres said, "The Israeli Innovation Center will tell the extraordinary and inspiring story of the State of Israel as the 'innovation nation.' A home of optimism and hope, a place for cooperation and coexistence between all sectors of Israeli society and a link between Israel and the world."
"The purpose of this place is to spread ideas near and far – to bring peace and prosperity closer, to make a positive change both in spirit and in reality – for us and for our neighbors, and for humanity as a whole."
Ma said the past 70 years were proof that even if you don't have anything, "if you have a brain and a heart, you can make everything possible."
