China’s Tsing Capital to invest in Israeli cleantech

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We plan to make investments by the end of the year, says Tsing Capital’s Don Ye.

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“Cleantech is probably the most important segment in cooperation between Israel and China, ” says Tsing Capital founding managing partner Don Ye, China’s largest fund making investments of a social character, or, as Ye puts it, “doing well by doing good.” Founded in 2001, Tsing Capital was among the first cleantech investors in China. Ye says that the fund has currently noted dozens of interesting projects for investment in Israel.

The fund plans to make at least one or two investments by the end of the year, with each investment potentially being in the tens of millions of dollars. The fund’s business totals $272 million. Ye was speaking at the China-Israel High-Tech Investment Summit, currently taking place in Haifa for the third time.

Ye says that he has noticed opportunities in Israel in areas such as economizing on water and water recycling, irrigation, materials, energy, and many other segments. He added that in his opinion, China should interest everyone in the Israeli cleantech industry, because China is currently the world’s largest consumer of cleantech solutions. In terms of venture capital investment in cleantech companies, China is in second place, but in total investments in cleantech companies and ventures, including government investments, it is in first place.

Ye says that the US and China signed a joint declaration this month, which many in the cleantech sector believe is one of the most important statements issued recently. China undertook to begin reducing the volume of its emissions by 2030 at the latest, and to derive 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. “From our perspective, this declaration is more important than the one made several months ago by the UN, which said that everyone “would try” to improve the situation, but which mentioned no specific targets. The targets in the joint statement are very ambitious, but the fact that they were stated will generate an enormous market for cleantech solutions.”

Ye further noted that next year, for the first time ever, China’s total investment in other countries (in all areas) would exceed the amount invested in China by foreigners. “Cleantech features prominently in our next five-year plan for 2016, ” he says, “especially in comparison with the preceding five-year plan.”

Israel’s third largest trading partner

“This is my second visit to Israel already this year. On my first visit in July, I had very long talks with Saul Singer, who wrote the book, “Startup Nation, ” Ye reveals. “His book was recently translated into Chinese, and became a bestseller, and he was greeted warmly on his first visit to China in August.” Lu Kun, the ministerial counselor in the Chinese embassy in Israel, said that China was currently the largest trading partner of 120 countries, Israel’s leading trading partner in Asia, and its third largest trading partner worldwide, although this figure was likely to change soon. China’s investment in foreign countries currently exceeds $90 billion.

Ministry of Environmental Protection director general David Leffler told the Chinese that Israel had succeeded in quintupling its agricultural production without using more water through drip irrigation technologies. Israel’s 80% rate of recycling of polluted water in Israel and turning it into water fit for agriculture at a high level of purity is among the world’s highest, but the goal is to reach almost 100%, at no health or environmental cost. “We’re closing the gap between the water supply and demand through desalination, recycling, and economizing, ” he stated. “Our desalination facilities are among the best in the world. A third of our drinking water comes from desalination, and the proportion will probably reach 70% by 2050. We’re reclaiming our rivers, and making them non-industrial.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com