On 14 October, the 5th “Dubai Business Forum · China”, hosted by Dubai Chambers, opened at the Futian Shangri-La Hotel in Shenzhen. With the theme “Gather Momentum for Far-reaching, Win-New Journey”, the forum brought together more than 600 officials from economic authorities of China and the UAE, senior executives of multinational corporations and business representatives. The UAE side dispatched its largest-ever overseas government and business delegation to China. Over 100 core representatives from Dubai government and business circles attended the event to conduct in-depth dialogues on cutting-edge topics including trade and investment, digital economy and advanced manufacturing.

As an important economic and trade platform connecting the Greater Bay Area with global markets, the Greater Bay Area Importers and Exporters Association has maintained long-term friendly cooperation with Dubai Chambers. The Association actively supported this forum and organised enterprises from the Bay Area to participate for business matching and exchanges. Lin Wensheng, Co-President; Zhao Huazhong and Huang Xiao, Executive Presidents; and Anita Kuang, Executive Secretary-General, were invited to attend the event.

Gathering of Elites to Discuss Opportunities for Open Cooperation

As an annual benchmark event for China-Dubai economic and trade exchanges, the forum featured 15 high-quality sessions covering keynote speeches, high-end roundtables, thematic seminars and closed-door business matching. Multidimensional and in-depth cross-border dialogues were carried out on major topics such as bilateral economic and trade cooperation, artificial intelligence, cross-border investment, advanced manufacturing, future mobility and global trade.

H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, President of Dubai Chambers, and H.E. Hadi Badri, CEO of Dubai Economic Development Corporation, delivered keynote opening speeches successively. They systematically reviewed the fruitful outcomes of the decade-long rapid growth in non-oil trade between Dubai and China, interpreted Dubai’s D33 Economic Agenda (Dubai 2033 Development Strategy), and comprehensively introduced Dubai’s future industrial layout, regulatory optimisation measures, as well as world-class business environment and supporting policies for multinational enterprises.

A number of high-level thematic roundtable discussions were held alongside the forum, bringing together representatives from chambers of commerce, top investment institutions and leading enterprises of the two countries. The discussions focused on trending topics such as industrial empowerment through artificial intelligence, innovative practices in future mobility, two-way circulation of industrial capital and building the resilience of global supply chains. Based on technological innovation, industrial implementation and real-world overseas expansion experience, participants shared insights, exchanged ideas and explored broad prospects for two-way cooperation.

To translate macro consensus into practical actions, the forum hosted a series of closed-door matching sessions under the theme “Empower Growth”. These sessions provided full-chain pragmatic services for participating government and business organisations, including market access policy guidance, cross-border business consultation, precise resource matching and coordination for practical business issues, breaking information barriers and facilitating efficient matching between supply and demand.

Memorandum of Understanding Signed at the Grand Event

During the forum, the delegation of the Greater Bay Area Importers and Exporters Association held in-depth discussions with the team from Dubai Chambers. Both sides fully exchanged views and reached broad consensus on topics including economic and trade cooperation opportunities between the two regions, pain points of enterprises’ cross-border development and market resource linkage, and formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding. H.E. Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers; Salem AlShamsi, Executive Vice President of International Relations; and Qian He, Chief Representative in China, attended the signing ceremony.

In recent years, economic and trade exchanges between China and the UAE have continued to grow. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bilateral trade volume between China and the UAE reached USD 108 billion in 2025. The UAE remains China’s largest export market in the Middle East. As a Middle Eastern transit hub, more than 60% of Chinese goods exported to the Middle East are transshipped via Dubai. China has been Dubai’s largest trading partner for many consecutive years. Cooperation between enterprises of the two sides in new energy, digital economy, cross-border e-commerce and other fields is accelerating its shift from “product export” to “industrial landing”.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding, both parties will establish a regular economic and trade cooperation mechanism. Leveraging Dubai’s strengths as a transshipment hub and free port, the two sides will help Greater Bay Area enterprises access markets in the Middle East, Africa and Europe more efficiently, and support high-quality products and services from the Bay Area to go global. The agreement is valid for two years. The two parties will carry out pragmatic collaboration in trade and investment, industrial docking and market expansion, jointly promote deeper connectivity between enterprises of the Greater Bay Area and Dubai, and provide regular matching channels and implementation support for Bay Area enterprises to invest and operate in the Middle East and explore international markets.

Previously, a senior delegation from Dubai Chambers paid a special visit to the Greater Bay Area Importers and Exporters Association. The two sides reached a series of consensuses on building a regular economic and trade docking mechanism, jointly supporting Chinese enterprises to enter the Middle East market and sharing development dividends of the Belt and Road Initiative. The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding marks the transition of bilateral cooperation from strategic consensus to institutional implementation.

Rooted in the Greater Bay Area and connected to the world via Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area Importers and Exporters Association is committed to coordinating import and export industrial resources within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and actively building an economic and trade cooperation framework of “9+2+N”. This signing with Dubai Chambers represents another substantive step for the Association to expand its global economic and trade network. The Association will continue to take Hong Kong as its international gateway and the Greater Bay Area as its industrial hinterland, building a more solid bridge and delivering more targeted services for Bay Area enterprises exploring markets in the Middle East and across the globe.

About Dubai Chambers

Founded in 1965, Dubai Chambers is the official organisation of the Emirate of Dubai, the UAE, tasked with promoting economic and trade development. It comprises the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai International Chamber and Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy. It empowers the local business community, establishes and strengthens international partnerships, accelerates the development of the digital economy, and consolidates Dubai’s leading position as a global hub for business, trade and investment.