The UAE’s role as a major trade gateway for Chinese businesses and investments coming into the region and expanding towards various European and African markets was stressed by a senior official.

Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade and Industry, pointed out that solid economic relations exist between the UAE and China, which the UAE considers its second largest trading partner.

Al Saleh was speaking at a forum organised as part of the 5th China-Eurasia Expo which began yesterday and will run for six days until September 25 in Urumqi, the Capital of China’s Xinjiang Province.

The forum dealt with investment and trade development opportunities offered by countries involved in the ‘Belt and Road’ which focused on the textile and clothing sectors, in particular.

Al Saleh said the volume of trade exchange between the UAE and China, including oil and free zone trade, stood at around $54.8 billion in 2015, representing a 16 per cent annual increase over the past six years. He added that China topped the list of Dubai's trading partners at a value of approximately $1.2 billion during the first quarter of 2016.

Al Saleh said the UAE recognises the important role of the textile industry in supporting the UAE’s economic growth and non-oil trade, providing job opportunities and increasing foreign currency earnings. He said the UAE’s total textile trade was at around $15 billion in 2015 to top all Arab countries. The figure accounted for about 25 per cent of total Arab textile trade last year, with the UAE ranking 11th globally in textile imports with a 2.3 per cent share of total worldwide imports.

He further noted the importance of cooperating with China in this sector, as it exports a third of the world's textiles. China is the largest provider of such goods to the UAE, accounting for as much as 36.6 percent of the state’s total fabric imports. He also referred to the important role played by the Xinjiang region in support of this industry, which provides 60 percent of the total cotton crops produced by China.

Al Saleh emphasised the UAE’s full commitment to actively contributing to the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and ‘Maritime Silk Road’ initiatives.  - TradeArabia News Service