Senior officials from the Israeli construction industry and the Ministry of Finance have arrived in China this week to begin the official selection process of Chinese construction workers to be imported to Israel, the Ministry of Finance Spokesperson reported Wednesday. The selection began on Wednesday, with about 20,000 candidates registered by the Association of Chinese Contractors.
Of those 20,000 construction workers, 7,200 were randomly selected to continue the screening process. They will undergo medical tests, after which another lottery will be conducted, to select 6,000 workers who will arrive in Israel in the coming months.
The selection took place at the training and examination center in the city of Jinan, capital of Shandong province in Eastern China. The Israeli Ministry of Finance said that construction workers from China will double the construction capacity of the housing market, which will lead to stability in the sector, increasing the supply of apartments and reducing the cost of living.
Wednesday’s ceremony in China was attended by representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the Association of Chinese Contractors and local representatives. The Israeli delegation was led by Avigdor Yitzhaki, head of the Ministry of Finance’s Housing Ministry; President of the Association of Builders of the Land, Roni Brick; representative of the Ministry of Construction and Housing, Netanel Lapidot; representative of the Immigration Authority, Aharon Barazani; and representative of the construction companies accompanying the selections, Itzik Gurevitch.
Speaking in Israel, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) said that “bringing thousands of Chinese workers will change the rules of the game in the construction industry and Israel’s infrastructure, and will be a significant injection of energy into the number of housing starts in Israel.”
In China, the Finance Ministry’s Avigdor Yitzhaki added that “the wheels are starting to move, and soon the Chinese workers will arrive in Israel, and I believe that their arrival will completely change the face of the construction and infrastructure industry in Israel, contributing to stability and sanity for many years.”