China is building a major trade center to showcase its products
in the United Arab Emirates. It is expected to open in the second
half of the year, said Wei Jianguo, vice minister of commerce.
The Dubai center will be the largest trading platform China has
ever established overseas.
“The distribution center for Chinese products one of our local
enterprises’ new strategies to expand overseas,” Wei said.
Describing the center as a Chinatown of sorts, Wei said the
center will cost a total of US$300 million and accommodate about
4,000 Chinese companies.
He believes the trade center will foster stronger trade ties
between China and the United Arab Emirates.
Bilateral trade between the two countries totaled US$5.8 billion
last year, and is expected to reach US$8 billion this year and
US$10 billion in 2005.
But the center aims to reach beyond the UAE.
“The center, with its good location, will become an expressway
for Chinese products into neighboring regions,” said Wei.
The UAE, which has a regional position comparable to Hong Kong’s
in Asia, has strong trade links with the Middle East, Africa and
East Europe.
Dubai is the world’s third-largest harbor for entrepot trade,
after Hong Kong and Singapore. China’s entrepot trade there
accounts for 7 percent of the country’s annual foreign trade.
The UAE is also famous for its trading environment as it has low
tariff rates and few taxes on income, added value or
consumption.
Wei expects the center will also help build the image of Chinese
products in the Middle East and attract business people from the
region to cooperate with Chinese groups.
Inexpensive and good-quality Chinese products will also offer
more choices to people in the region, he added.
Wei predicts the center will book yearly trade of US$1.0 - 1.5
billion worth of Chinese products.
The center, a large business mall, will comprise a trading
market, warehouses and apartments. The market will cover an area of
150,000 square meters with more than 4,000 booths. The warehouses
and apartments will occupy 45,000 and 140,000 square meters.
Many Chinese companies are planning a presence in the region,
which they view as an emerging market, and a number of them have
already applied for space in the trade center.
“We are carefully picking the qualified companies that produce
high-quality products and have no problems in intellectual property
rights,” he said.
(China Daily April 7, 2005)