Dubai: The annual “Dubai week in China” will take place this year in Shenzhen, considered one of China’s the most innovative cities with the one of fastest-growing economies.
“Dubai week in China” has previously been held in Beijing and Shanghai. This year’s theme will be “innovation”, said Hongbin Cong, Vice-Chairman of International Relations at Falcon and Associates — a strategic advisory company that initiated the Dubai Week in China series, which aims to further boost the economic relations between Dubai and China.
Commenting on this year’s choice, Cong told Gulf News that Shenzhen was chosen for many reasons, including its vibrancy and its fast growing economy since China started its economic reforms in the late 1970s.
In addition, “there are similarities between Shenzhen and Dubai,” said Cong, explaining, that the “two cities share similar history”. Shenzhen is considered China’s Silicon Valley, he said.
In a span of nearly four decades, both Dubai and Shenzhen witnessed a wide leap in development and became among the most innovated cities in the world, he said. “This year, we actually created the theme ‘innovation’ for the week in China”, Cong explained. “This year’s event will offer a great opportunity for those seeking innovative solutions and technology issues.”
Commenting on a question whether the global competition in the field of technology, in which the western countries have a major role to play, will hinder the arrival of Chinese companies and their cooperation with Dubai, Cong said: “You will always find the competition between the existing ones and the new comers … but I don‘t necessarily see it (competition) as a hurdle for Chinese companies to boost their cooperation with Dubai.”
Cong said a UAE delegation of the same level and size is expected to take part in this year’s event.
Last October, a high-level delegation from Dubai attended the 3-day event, which was supported by Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce (SMCC). The Dubai delegation included representatives of the UAE Ministry of Economy, Dubai FDI, Dubai Duty Free, DIFC courts, Emirates and KHDA. Other bodies including Dubai Sports Council, Emirates Academy of Hospitality and Emirates Aviation Academy are also participating. At the end of the event, 11 agreements were signed and Dubai Chamber of Commerce announced opening an office in Shanghai.
Currently, there are 1,774 Chinese companies registered with Dubai Chamber. China has been Dubai’s number 1 trading partner since 2014. Nearly 60 per cent of trade between China and the UAE is re-exported to Africa and Europe.
Shenzhen
In 1980, Shenzhen became the first special economic zone in China. Since then, it has risen to become the country’s technology epicentre, giving birth to international tech giants, including Huawei and Tencent, one of the country’s largest social media companies. The number of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international patent applications from Shenzhen has topped all Chinese cities for 12 consecutive years, cementing its position as China’s most innovative city.
In the past 5 years, Shenzhen maintained a double-digit average economic growth, with GDP exceeding $280 billion. The volume of import and export totalled $487.8 billion, among which the export volume was $284.4 billion ranking first for 23 consecutive years among the large and medium-sized cities in Chinese mainland.
Shenzhen is the home to more than 2,000 hi-tech companies and 192 out of the Fortune 500 have invested in the city.
