Israel chose local company IDE technologies to construct the world’s largest desalination plant, the government announced on Tuesday, rather than a Chinese company, thus preventing another undesirable showdown with the Trump administration over Chinese participation in major infrastructure projects.

Three groups bid to build Sorek 2, a private-public partnership (PPP) which will be the world’s largest desalination plant when completed in 2023.

Among them was Israeli Hutchison Company, an affiliate of the Chinese Hutchison Company based in Hong Kong.The US has asked its allies, including Israel, in recent weeks to sever ties with China – Israel’s third-largest trading partner – in areas with security risks, a US official with knowledge of talks on the matter said last week.

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