Including real estate.. 10 areas of cooperation between the UAE and China

The UAE discussed ways to enhance joint cooperation with the People's Republic of China, especially in the fields of trade, investment, real estate, energy, manufacturing, technology, renewable energy, health, transportation and digital transformation.

This came during a round table meeting held recently in Dubai, in the presence of Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, and Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy.

Trade partnerships

During the meeting, the two sides discussed a set of new mechanisms to enhance prospects for joint trade cooperation, build more trade partnerships, and provide all means of support to exporters and importers, to facilitate increased exchange of goods and services, and work to diversify them, in a way that supports the increasing growth of trade exchanges between the two countries.

They also discussed mechanisms to enhance Emirati investments in the Chinese market, and take advantage of the promising investment opportunities it presents, especially since there are more than 55 Emirati companies operating in China.

Opportunities for Emirati companies

Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, said: "We will work to strengthen our partnership with the UAE, in order to create new opportunities for Emirati companies to expand and grow in the Chinese market, and we at the Ministry of Commerce will provide everything necessary to ensure the continuity, development and stability of the activities of Emirati companies." in China for the long term.

For his part, Abdullah Al Saleh stressed that the UAE-Chinese relations are strategic and developing continuously in all sectors, including economic, trade and investment.

The UAE is China's first Arab trading partner with a contribution of 30% of China's total non-oil trade with Arab countries, and China came as the UAE's largest trading partner globally in 2022.

Largest foreign investor

China ranks third as the UAE's largest foreign investor in the world. The balance of direct Chinese investments in the country amounted to about 23.3 billion dirhams (6.3 billion dollars) by the end of 2020, with a contribution of 5% of the total foreign direct investment incoming to the UAE. Most of the Chinese investments were concentrated in commercial, financial, insurance and real estate activities.

The volume of non-oil trade exchange between the two countries amounted to about 284 billion dirhams, with a growth rate of 27% in 2022 compared to 2021, and a growth rate of 80% compared to 2018.

On the other hand, the volume of trade exchange between the UAE and China rose to a record high over the past year, increasing by 37.4 percent year-on-year in 2022. And China's imports from the UAE grew by 58.9 percent year-on-year, to record $45.4 billion, and Chinese exports to the UAE increased by 23.3 percent, to record $53.8 billion.

Chinese citizens residing in the UAE

The number of Chinese citizens residing in the UAE is approximately 400,000, which means that the Chinese community in the country has doubled in number since 2019 when it numbered 200,000, and about 6,000 Chinese companies operate in the country.