Dubai businesses are optimistic about the future of trade with China as imports expand to include more advanced technologies and products, said Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, chairman of Dubai Chambers.
Mansoori made the remarks on the sidelines of the Dubai Business Forum China, held by Dubai Chambers in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, on October 14.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), he noted that China's manufacturing strength and Dubai's global connections make for a complementary partnership.
"I'm very optimistic, of course, about bilateral trade between our two nations. We always work with a clear plan on how we do that kind of a progress in terms of our bilateral trade, and we identify the areas of trade not only for us as Dubai, but also how Dubai can serve the Middle East market, the African market, central Asia market, and even European markets, because everyone feels comfortable to do business there," he said.
"And this is where the importance of China as an industrial nation, as an export nation, is actually exporting a lot of products to us in Dubai and from us. We are actually re-exporting it, maybe almost 40 percent of what comes to Dubai from Chinese products is actually re-exported to this market because we know the markets, we have the connection, we have the history with it. So this combination of partnership between us and China is really working very well for both sides," he said.
In 2025, bilateral trade between the UAE and China reached 108 billion U.S. dollars, making the UAE China's largest export market and second-largest trading partner in the Middle East. Chinese exports totaled over 72 billion dollars, while imports from the UAE amounted to 35 billion dollars. China's direct investment in the UAE reached 2.6 billion dollars last year, official statistics show.
The growing business presence of Chinese firms is increasingly visible in Dubai. The number of active Chinese member companies registered with Dubai Chambers has more than doubled since 2016, reaching 6,650 by the end of September.
Mansoori also highlighted the expanding scope of bilateral trade, particularly in new energy and advanced mobility.
"The types of products, the portfolio of the products, we are now moving into more and more of areas such as green energy, solar cells manufacturing and export. We are looking at automobiles and basically driverless automobiles, that has been quite expanding in Dubai. We have about 65,000 now automobiles which are actually mainly most of them actually imported from China. 85 percent of these are actually imported from China. And mobility is beginning to be more and more technological, more advanced. And China has been going in this in more advancement than other nations. So I expect, for example, these kinds of vehicles will be expanded and this technology expanded not only to the private sector, but also going to be into buses, into other areas," he said.
Furthermore, Dubai and China see expanding opportunities for cooperation across aviation, mobility, renewable energy, and food security, said Mansoori.
He also highlighted potential partnerships in research and development for solar and hydrogen energy, as well as plans to establish manufacturing bases in Dubai, combining Chinese expertise and technology with Dubai's market access. This, he said, will create more tradable products and strengthen the two sides' global competitiveness as partners.
Dubai Chambers Chairman upbeat on China-Dubai trade ties
