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The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre has seen its Chinese business community expand by 9.4 percent over the past 12 months, with more than 1,000 companies now based in the free zone, according to DMCC figures released this month. More than 60 percent of these companies are active in energy, engineering and machinery as well as technology and telecommunications, a DMCC assessment found. DMCC data places non-oil trade between the UAE and China at a record $111.5 billion in 2025, a 24.5 percent increase from the prior year.
DMCC Executive Chairman Ahmed Bin Sulayem linked the corporate growth directly to bilateral trade performance. “UAE-China trade reached record levels in 2025, and this momentum is increasingly reflected in the number and profile of Chinese companies scaling internationally through Dubai,” Bin Sulayem said in a statement. The executive pointed to the recent Made For Trade Live roadshow across Shanghai, Wuxi and Xi’an as a platform to align with Chinese strengths in key sectors and sign new cooperation agreements.
Separate initiatives by Dubai Chambers included a roundtable in Shanghai to showcase opportunities arising from the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 for Chinese investors, the business body reported. Salem AlShamsi, executive vice president of international relations at Dubai Chambers, described China as a strategic market for ongoing partnership building. “China remains a strategic market for Dubai Chambers as we continue to strengthen investment partnerships,” AlShamsi said. He emphasised Dubai’s role as a platform for Chinese companies to access markets across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
According to Chinese industry experts cited in a Yicai Global report, enterprises from China increasingly treat Dubai as a target market rather than merely a transit point. Tao Xiao, managing partner at NH Management, told the publication that requests have shifted toward technology, financial services, investment management and new energy businesses over the past three years. The consultant added that 40 percent of surveyed clients selected Dubai primarily to reach customers in the UAE and broader Gulf region.
Dubai Chambers statistics reveal that membership of Chinese companies climbed 186 percent between 2021 and 2025, rising from 2,258 to 6,465 active entities. The first five months of 2026 alone added more than 460 new Chinese member firms, the data showed. Records from a Shanghai Securities report placed the number of Chinese direct investment projects in Dubai at 256 between 2015 and the first half of 2025, carrying an aggregate value of about $6.3 billion.
Chinese business leaders, in statements covered by WAM, have described Dubai as a key hub for growth and expansion of the Chinese business community. The leaders highlighted the emirate’s advanced business environment, world-class infrastructure and agile regulatory framework. Such views emerged during engagements that focused on sectors including technology, logistics, trade and advanced manufacturing.
