(Yicai  Global) April 9 -- Chinese in vitro diagnostics firm Thalys Medical  Technology will join hands with iCAN Israel-Cannabis, a medical  marijuana incubator, to get tips about which industrial hemp startups to  invest in. The Chinese partner's stock jumped. 

Thalys and iCAN  penned a strategic cooperation agreement, the Wuhan-based firm said in a  statement yesterday evening. The Chinese firm's stock price [SHA:603716] has risen  the daily limit of 10 percent by lunch. 

Thalys  will help iCAN to enter the world's most populous consumer market. The  Jerusalem-based company will give Thalys exclusive cooperation rights on  the latter's home turf regarding iCAN's incubated startups and the pair  will take matching stakes in new investments.

A number of Chinese  firms have announced plans to  enter the industrial hemp production sector recently, causing their stocks to rally strongly, despite the fact that Chinese authorities have reminded that  medical cannabis is still illegal in China. 

Industrial hemp, the non-intoxicating variety of the plant, can be used for obtaining fiber or seeds. 

Editor: Emmi Laine