China is looking at engaging individual emirates to boost its economic trade and ties with the UAE, a news release has said.
In a recent visit to Sharjah, one of the UAE’s most important industrial and trade regions, Chinese delegation and top executives of Expo Centre Sharjah discussed ways to boost bilateral trade, which is estimated at $54.8bn.
The news comes after the launch of ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative, a grand design to create trade routes through Central Asia and its maritime equivalent around the Indian Ocean covering 3.81bn people and accounting for $16.42 trillion in economic output.
With the UAE joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member, strategic ties between the UAE and China are set to strengthen further.
they discussed mutual cooperation and how both sides can benefit from the new initiatives that are launched to boost the $54.8 billion bilateral trade between the countries.
“We attach great importance to bilateral ties with China and in view of the recent developments we are looking to play a major role in further strengthening our cooperation that will provide new momentum to our already strong economic, trade and cultural ties,” said Mr Midfa after the meeting with the Chinese delegation.
Sharjah has been a facilitator of trade between the UAE and China, with recently released data pointing out that bilateral trade between Sharjah and China is expanding fast, and was expected to surpass $5bn in 2014.
“The UAE and Sharjah will be a catalyst of trade activities between the countries as China is aiming to more than double its trade volumes with the region in the coming decade. We also aim to receive a major chunk of Chinese investment in the region, which attracts about a quarter of Chinese firms’ global investments,” added Mr. Midfa.
