The UAE plays a pivotal role in regional and international development, based on the insightful vision of its leadership, its strategic location, and its business-friendly environment, which has made it an influential economic power that contributes significantly to the success of global economic initiatives, most notably the Belt and Road Initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.
The UAE’s active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, the ninth summit of which will be held on September 11-12 in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China under the theme “Building a Connected, Innovative and Green Belt and Road”, along with its strong relations with China in general and Hong Kong in particular, confirms its commitment to economic development and international cooperation.
As a regional economic power, the UAE continues to make significant contributions to the initiative, which has around 65 participating countries, representing 30% of global GDP. The UAE has pumped $10 billion into a joint Chinese-Emirati investment fund to support the initiative’s projects in East Africa, and signed 13 memoranda of understanding with China in 2018 to invest in various fields within the UAE.
Data for the first half of 2023 showed that the value of the UAE’s non-oil trade with countries within the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to $305 billion, which contributes 90% of the UAE’s non-oil trade during that period, achieving growth of more than 13% compared to the first half of 2022. In addition, 88% of the UAE’s imports are from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, representing 94% of the UAE’s non-oil exports to these countries, as well as 92% of re-exports heading to these countries.
The Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure and investment project, aims to connect Asia, Europe and Africa through land and sea routes, and the UAE, with its strategic location, has become an important and crucial point in the success of the initiative.
It is therefore not surprising that the UAE’s ports and world-class logistics infrastructure are a vital hub for trade along the Belt and Road Initiative routes, facilitating the efficient movement of goods and services and contributing to the initiative’s success.
The UAE has not neglected technology and innovation, but has actively promoted them as key drivers of growth under the Belt and Road Initiative, leading to cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure.
The ninth edition of the summit this year comes at a time when the UAE and China are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1984. China is the UAE’s first trading partner in the world, while the “Belt and Road” initiative has paved the way for many opportunities to enhance trade and economic cooperation, based on the UAE being a strategic partner of the initiative since its launch, and the country’s strong trade capabilities and flexible policies and regulatory frameworks that have made it a major center for trade movement in the region, and one of the most important commercial centers in the world.
The UAE-China relations represented the cornerstone of economic cooperation and the driving force behind the country’s participation in the initiative, as the two countries realized the mutual benefits of economic cooperation and worked closely to implement joint projects.
Recent data released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached $50.108 billion during the first half of 2024, including $18.66 billion in UAE exports and $31.448 billion in imports from China.
Perhaps a careful look at the economic relations between the UAE and China confirms the cooperation and joint coordination at all levels, which was evident in the increase in the volume of trade exchange between the two countries by about 800 times since the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, while the two countries aim to reach $200 billion in trade exchange in 2030.
The two countries signed more than 148 bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding in various fields, and the volume of the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade with China during the past year amounted to 296 billion dirhams, equivalent to “81 billion dollars”, with a growth rate of 4.2% compared to 2022, thus China maintained its position as the UAE’s first trading partner in its non-oil trade in 2023, as it acquired 12% of that trade.
In the same context, the total UAE investment flows to China amounted to about 11.9 billion US dollars between 2003 and 2023, covering several sectors, most notably communications, renewable energy, transportation and storage, hotels and tourism, and rubber, while Chinese investment flows to the UAE amounted to 7.7 billion US dollars during the same period.
While the relations between the UAE and China have witnessed great strides in cooperation in all fields, the UAE’s relations with Hong Kong are of particular importance; Hong Kong, as a special administrative region in China, plays a vital role in the Belt and Road Initiative, and the UAE has a special relationship with it, especially in the context of trade, finance and logistics services.
The UAE’s total non-oil trade with Hong Kong reached $12 billion in 2022, a growth of nearly 50% over 10 years, while Hong Kong’s foreign direct investment in the UAE amounted to $2.1 billion, mainly in retail and automobile trade at 73%, manufacturing at 19%, and transportation and storage at 5%.
Hong Kong serves as a gateway for UAE companies to access the Chinese market and other parts of Asia. Both the UAE and Hong Kong are major financial centres, and there is significant cooperation between them in areas such as banking, insurance and capital markets.
In the field of logistics and transportation, Hong Kong’s world-class logistics infrastructure complements the UAE’s strategic location, making it a valuable partner in regional and global trade.
The UAE’s active engagement in the Belt and Road Initiative, supported by its strategic relations with China and Hong Kong, reflects its firm commitment to sustainable economic growth and international cooperation. As an influential economic power in the region, the UAE continues to make valuable contributions to various global initiatives, contributing to a more interconnected and prosperous world.
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