Oren poses with Peng Xinyu, president of the hospital, after a Sino-Israeli seminar on preventing and dealing with major emergency incidents. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Oren says he has developed long-term friendships with some Chinese who make him feel like family. He has made a number of trips to China, staying about 10 days during each visit. And while on work here, he has also found the time to discover Chinese culture, landscapes and cuisines.

He watches Chinese television channels when he is back in Israel and follows news about China.

Understanding public policy in the country is as important as getting a sense of China's society and culture, he says.

Before he retired from Hillel-Yaffe last October, he brought his successor to China from the center.

"The cooperation is wonderful. It should continue and go deeper," he says of China.

In 2015, Oren received the Friendship Award, the highest honor given by the Chinese government to foreigners who have made significant contribution to the country's social and economic development.

"It's a great honor. I feel obliged to contribute more to the Chinese people and the Chinese government with my expertise," he says.

While he was in Beijing for the award ceremony, Premier Li Keqiang encouraged the award recipients to keep sending suggestions for China's development in relevant fields.

After that, Oren worked out a proposal urging China to improve its emergency preparedness in the healthcare system according to different priorities of different regions.

"Israel is a small country, but unfortunately we have lots of experience with conflicts. In that respect, we have the advantage to cope with a variety of emergency scenarios," he says.

"From our understanding of the Chinese healthcare system, we think there is a gap that needs to be bridged," he says, adding that Israel can share more experiences of quick response to mass casualty events.

Oren completed the proposal with contributions from his partners and experts in China. They held a first seminar on the draft of his proposal in October in Beijing.

"I hope the proposal will be forwarded to the premier as soon as possible so that the system is launched from the top," says Oren, who suggests a pilot project can be launched in Shihezi.

He notes that China has a lot of knowledge and experience, for example, in dealing with earthquakes and highly contagious diseases, to share with the world, at a time when such cases of emergency are occurring more often.

"Each country has its own strong points. I'm really looking forward to joint activities such as anti-terror drills between China and Israel in the future," he says.