China to overtake India to become Dubai's largest trading partner for 2014

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China is set to overtake India to become Dubai’s largest trading partner for 2014, according to a newly-released study.

Hongbin Cong, Managing Director of Invest Dubai, Falcon and Associates, said: “We are seeing a new era of Asian growth as countries revisit and reinvest in the New Silk Road. Dubai is at the very centre of this. The emirate has a key role to play in driving the upward trajectory of GCC-Asia trade facilitated by the strength of its location, infrastructure and connectivity and as is evident by its links with China and India. In 2013, China was Dubai's second largest trading partner and is on course to overtake India after $21.9bn (Dh80.37bn) of trade was recorded in the first six months of this year.”

In 2013, India topped Dubai's major trading partners with a total trade value of Dh37bn with China second at Dh35bn and the US at Dh86bn.

But in the first half of 2014, China was Dubai’s top foreign trade partner with a trade value of Dh80.5 billion, followed by India at Dh53 billion and the US at Dh41 billion.

Dubai’s foreign total trade reached Dh654 billion in H1 2014.

Chinese investment is also on the uptick in construction, wholesale trade and retail, with more than 3,000 Chinese companies registered in Dubai (up from just 18 in 2005), indicating the emirate’s increasing role as a gateway of opportunity for Asia into the Middle East, Africa, Europe and beyond.

China to become biggest export market for GCC by 2020

Developing countries in Asia — particularly China and India — are rapidly becoming the biggest trading partners with Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries ahead of other regions, said the report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in conjunction with Falcon and Associates.

The EIU predicted that China will be the largest export market for the GCC by 2020.

Between 2010 and 2013, GCC-China trade grew faster than with any other significant trade partner.

“Back in 2011, when we conducted our last study on the Gulf’s external economic relationships, it was clear that emerging markets were surging ahead as economic partners for the GCC,” said Adam Green, senior editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit’s EMEA office.

“Since then, emerging Asia has continued on trend, especially China, despite the emerging markets slowdown. And while oil continues to be a major trade driver, we are seeing greater commercial diversity, from China-built malls and markets in the Gulf, to Gulf investments in Asian mobile telecoms, real estate and financial services.”

As for the importance of India, the report shows GCC exports growing at an annual rate of 43 per cent over the last decade, the highest rate with any major trade partner, now making up 11 per cent of total GCC exports.

Findings also illustrate that Indian investment remains a significant growth driver for the UAE.

Green said: "Perhaps the most important signal of growth in commercial ties is just not the flow of goods or money, but people, with an increasing number of Indians working in the Gulf. The numbers of new Indian businesses is also on the up, especially in the UAE. There is a lot of excitement at the moment about India finding its feet again and returning to its high growth path. If that happens, the Gulf region will be a clear beneficiary."

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