Google chairman Eric Schmidt said on Monday that the company’s development centers in Israel are among the company’s most efficient and that Google is constantly expanding them.

Speaking at a Tel Aviv conference called “Big Tent,” Schmidt said that the quality of Israel’s engineers is very high, not least due to the country’s universities and the training acquired in the army. He also praised local salespeople as among the best in the world, saying they continue to contribute to the company’s profits.

“We love Israel,” Schmidt said, drawing applause from the crowd.

Schmidt said that Israel has a good education system and great universities, but added it needs to strengthen them further.

Schmidt also touched on the company’s recent departure from China. “We thought there would be popular demand to stop censorship,” he said, adding that instead, the censorship only became more severe. “China started to censor more because she could do it,” he said. “That’s why we lefty China and started to focus on Hong Kong.”

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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