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)