Joint stamps mark 20 years of China-Israel relations

Theme of stamps is “Symbol of Peace” – Israel’s stamp shows a white dove and China’s shows a multicolored Bohemian waxwing.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Israel and China’s new joint stamp issue 370 (photo credit: Courtesy Israel Postal Company)
Israel and China’s new joint stamp issue 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Israel Postal Company)
The governments of China and Israel have jointly issued two commemorative stamps to mark 20 years of diplomatic relations as a sign of cooperation between the countries.
The theme of the stamps is “Symbol of Peace” – Israel’s stamp shows a white dove and China’s shows a multicolored Bohemian waxwing.
A ceremony was held to launch the stamps on Wednesday at the Jerusalem Music Center at Mishkenot Sha’ananim.
Present were Matan Vilnai, who will soon be the new ambassador to China; Chinese ambassador to Israel Gao Yanping; Chinese Parliament chairman Zhou Tienong; Israel Postal Company chairman Sasi Shilo; Liu Minggaung, vice president of the China Post Group; and Yaron Ratzon, director of the Philatelic Service.
The launching of the stamps took place in China two weeks ago, attended in Beijing by an Israeli delegation.
Philatelic officials noted that the stamps are also a sign of business, as in recent years, the amount of mail – letters and packages – sent between the two countries had significantly increased. The figure is ahead of mail between Israel and Germany, France and Greece, for example.
Only about once a year does Israel unveil a joint stamp issue with another country. China does not tend to make stamp issues with other countries; it took four years of negotiations with the giant of Asia to reach an agreement, the Philatelic Service said.
Israel’s income from joint stamp issues can reach hundreds of thousands of shekels a year, but the China-Israel stamp is expected to achieve an income of more than NIS 500,000.
The dove stamp issued by Israel is very similar to the Chinese stamp showing the Bohemian waxwing, except that each one has a different star – one the sixpointed Star of David and the other a five-pointed Chinese star.
The two countries’ postal companies signed a letter of intention to continue their successful cooperative activities, expand and improve them. China and Israel want to develop new electronic commercial services together.