5. Economic and trade cooperation between the UAE and China
(1) Bilateral trade
According to the statistics of the UAE Ministry of Economic Affairs, between 2014 and 2016, the bilateral trade volume between the UAE and China amounted to 520.6 billion dirhams (about 141.8 billion US dollars), and China ranked first in the ranking of the UAE's major trading partners for three consecutive years. The top five trading partners of the UAE are China, India, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Germany.
In 2015, the trade volume between Afghanistan and China reached US $ 54.8 billion, of which non-oil trade was US $ 47.5 billion, a record high. In 2015, the trade volume between China and Dubai was about 49 billion US dollars, accounting for 89% of the total bilateral trade between China and Afghanistan. In 2016, the bilateral trade volume was US $ 40.06 billion, of which China imported US $ 9.99 billion from the UAE and exported US $ 30.07 billion from the UAE.
According to statistics from China Customs, from January to July 2017, the total bilateral trade between China and the UAE reached US $ 23.641 billion, an increase of 1.3% year-on-year.
(2) Bilateral investment cooperation
1. Bilateral investment
The UAE is China's largest investment destination in Arab countries. Chinese companies and UAE companies have carried out investment cooperation in many fields such as oil and gas, clean energy, industry, finance, infrastructure, etc., effectively driving technological exchanges and human resources cooperation between the two countries. Since its development, China has invested as much as US $ 8 billion in major industries such as trade and construction in the UAE.
At present, China has more than 3,000 companies established in the UAE, mainly in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Most companies are engaged in commodity trading. The way of investment is mainly private direct investment, most of which are small in scale. There are several trade centers with relatively large scales, such as the China Electromechanical Products Exhibition Center in Sharjah, the Earth Trade Center, and the China Shoe City in Dubai.
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On November 9, 2015, the China Daily Household (Dubai) Brand Exhibition jointly sponsored by the Foreign Trade Development Bureau and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council opened in Dubai, UAE
After years of development, Dubai has become the UAE's trade, tourism and financial center, and the Dubai World Expo will also provide development opportunities for Chinese companies. Dubai is committed to becoming China's largest direct investment destination in the Middle East.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, from January to July 2017, China's non-financial direct investment in the UAE was US $ 321 million, an increase of 9.76% year-on-year, accounting for 43.59% of China's non-financial direct investment in Arab countries during the same period.
The UAE has no statistics on direct or indirect investment in China. According to informal channels, some investment funds involved in UAE Capital, including Hong Kong, Japan and some Western funds, have invested directly or indirectly in the stocks of some Chinese listed companies. Due to the trade secrets involved, the specific situation is unclear. To be sure, with the gradual opening of China ’s capital market, various Western investment funds are increasingly interested in the Chinese market, and UAE capital will also increase accordingly, and may enable UAE fund companies to directly participate in various forms of Chinese investment.
In the field of production and circulation, there are a number of UAE SMEs, including UAE companies operated by foreigners, who have established small-scale commodity production or trading enterprises in China, operating products that are marketable in the Gulf and surrounding Arab countries. In 2014, Dubai's famous hotel group Jumeirah announced the signing of management agreements for 3 hotels and resorts in China. It has managed 8 hotel real estate projects in China.
On the morning of September 6, 2017, the sixth meeting of the China-UAE Economic and Trade Joint Commission was held in Beijing. The meeting was co-chaired by Minister Zhong Shan of the Ministry of Commerce and Minister Sultan Mansouri of the UAE Ministry of Economy. Under the witness of Minister Zhong Shan and Minister Mansouri, Director Liu Dianxun of the Investment Promotion Bureau and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy of the UAE, Mohamed Shahi, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Investment and Related Trade Promotion Cooperation between China and Afghanistan. The signing of the memorandum will strengthen investment promotion cooperation between China and the UAE, deepen the pragmatic exchanges between the two countries in key industries such as advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and energy, health care and medical equipment, agriculture, biotechnology, innovative technology, and establish Sustainable investment promotion cooperation model.
On September 6, 2017, under the witness of Minister Zhong Shan and Minister Mansuri, the two parties signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Investment and Related Trade Promotion Cooperation between China and Argentina
2. Major Chinese companies
The main areas of Chinese investment in the UAE are energy, steel, building materials, construction machinery, hardware, chemicals, etc .; the main investment projects include: China-Arab announced the establishment of a US $ 10 billion joint investment fund; Adnoc and PetroChina jointly established the AI Yasat oil operating company, PetroChina accounted for 40% of the shares. Sinopec Guande Holding Co., Ltd. (50%), Singapore Hongguo Energy Co., Ltd. (38%), Fujairah government (12%) invest in the oil storage joint venture project in Fujairah, UAE-Fujay Pull oil storage company.
In May 2015, Dubai Milas Group and Alibaba announced a joint investment in the construction of a Dubai data center project. In October 2015, Yvolv, a joint venture between the two companies, announced its establishment and launched its first mobile application, Yvo, which is now operational.
In October 2015, a consortium composed of China Harbin Electric International Engineering Corporation (Harden International) and Saudi Electric Power pre-winning the first phase of the Dubai Hassyan Clean Coal Power Station project with a project value of US $ 1.8 billion. This is the first time that a Chinese company has won a power contracting project in the UAE, marking the formal entry of Chinese companies into the high-end market of Gulf power.
Currently, Huawei and the UAE National Telecommunications Corporation (ETISALAT) have formed a strategic partnership. Huawei has become a mainstream supplier of equipment for the UAE telecommunications industry. With the expansion of the UAE National Telecommunications Corporation in the Gulf, South Asia and Africa, Huawei has also actively explored the market. In September 2015, Huawei opened the first customer service center in the Middle East in Dubai. In November, it invested and established the Middle East, Northeast Africa Innovation Experience Center in Dubai, and successively signed comprehensive network transformation and advanced network technology research and development with major UAE local communications operators. Cooperation agreements on cooperation and other aspects.
In February 2017, China Huaxin Energy Co., Ltd. signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to obtain a 4% interest in the Abu Dhabi land concession contract block, with a contract period of 40 years The investment amount is 1.8 billion US dollars. This is the first time that Chinese companies have participated in equity interests in Abu Dhabi's onshore oil and gas block.
(3) Bilateral financial cooperation
On January 17, 2012, China and Afghanistan signed a bilateral currency swap agreement with a scale of 35 billion yuan / 20 billion dirhams, valid for 3 years. On December 14, 2015, China and Argentina renewed the local currency swap agreement, the swap scale remained unchanged, and the validity period was 3 years, and it was stipulated that it can be extended upon mutual agreement. In addition, the People's Bank of China also approved the UAE to become a pilot country for RMB qualified foreign institutional investors with an investment quota of 50 billion RMB.
On December 14, 2015, China and Afghanistan signed a memorandum on the establishment of the China-Arab Joint Investment Fund, marking the official establishment of the China-Arab Fund. The total scale of the China-Arab Fund is US $ 10 billion, and the first phase is US $ 4 billion, with each party contributing 50%. The fund operates according to commercial principles, and the investment direction is traditional energy, infrastructure construction and high-end manufacturing, clean energy and other high-growth industries. The investment area is dominated by China, the UAE and other high-growth countries and regions. The establishment of the China-Arab Fund is an important measure for the two countries to continuously deepen and close economic cooperation between the two countries. It is of great significance to further deepen pragmatic cooperation between China and the UAE and other Gulf countries, cooperate with the “Belt and Road” strategy, and promote cooperation in international production capacity and equipment manufacturing.
(4) Bilateral labor service cooperation
Since the fall of oil prices in 2014, the construction market in the UAE and the Middle East has shrunk rapidly. According to data from the Economic Digest of the Middle East, in 2015, the UAE project contracting market issued a total of US $ 37.4 billion, down about 25% year-on-year. The sharp decline in government revenue has seriously affected investment in infrastructure projects. Among them, the second phase of the Federal Railway from re-tendering to complete shutdown, the Abu Dhabi Metro project is still far away, and many projects under construction also face the risk of suspension or delay.
Given that the 2020 World Expo will be held in Dubai, this will effectively promote Dubai's urban construction and diversified development. According to HSBC estimates, the total public and private investment required for infrastructure and urban construction at the Dubai World Expo will be approximately US $ 18.3 billion. In the next few years, during the preparation of the Dubai World Expo and the construction of the city, the contracted volume of construction and transportation projects will boost the UAE project contracting market to a certain extent.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, in 2015, Chinese enterprises signed 51 new contracted engineering contracts in the UAE, with a newly signed contract value of 1.845 billion US dollars and a turnover of 1.539 billion US dollars; people. Newly signed large-scale engineering contracting projects include: Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. contracted ZP2324-7DPW UAE shore bridge rail crane; China National Petroleum Engineering Construction Company contracted the Mande Oilfield Development Phase 1 project; Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. contracted UAE Telecom, etc. .
(5) Bilateral energy cooperation
The energy sector is an important part of China-Arab economic cooperation. In February 2016, China and Afghanistan signed the "Framework Agreement for Promoting Production Capacity and Investment Cooperation". Chinese companies currently in the UAE include:
1. PetroChina Engineering Construction Company
CNPC has established a good cooperative relationship with Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) by virtue of the projects undertaken in Pakistan. In November 2008, it signed a contract with China National Petroleum Pipeline Bureau for the construction of a 400,000-km strategic oil and gas pipeline project from Ibu Dhabi to Fujairah, with a project value of US $ 3.29 billion. The smooth implementation of the project will help to enhance the overall awareness of the UAE, especially the Abu Dhabi petrochemical community, about Chinese companies.
2. Sinochem Atlantis
As the first project of Chinese oil companies in the UAE and the first independent development project of Chinese oil companies in the Middle East, Sinochem Atlantis' UAQ gas field has been officially put into production. The project has invested a total of about 100 million US dollars. The UAQ gas field is expected to provide 80 million cubic feet of daily gas supply during the peak period, with a gas supply period of 25 years.
3. PetroChina International Corporation
In 2014, Abu Dhabi National Petroleum Corporation and China National Petroleum International (Hong Kong) Company formed a joint venture company AI Yasat, the two parties accounted for 6: 4, and carried out oil exploration in the designated onshore and offshore cooperation blocks in Afghan. , Including 7,843 square kilometers on land and 582 square kilometers on the sea. As of the end of 2015, the Chinese investment has exceeded 150 million US dollars, and the total investment is expected to exceed 1 billion US dollars.
From 2007 to 2016, China's oil imports from the UAE expanded rapidly. According to United Nations data, oil imports in 2007 were 3.651 million tons. In 2015, oil imports were 12.565 million tons, an increase of 2.44 times over 2007 and a year-on-year increase of 7.8%. In 2016, the scale of oil imports was reduced, with imports of 12.182 million tons, a decrease of 3.0%.
