Dubai, Hangzhou seek to expand trade ties

DUBAI - An economic delegation from Hangzhou, China met on Monday with senior executives of public and private institutions of Dubai to boost ties covering trade, logistics, e-commerce and finance between the two port cities.

In a speech delivered at the 2016 Hangzhou-Dubai City Promotion Conference Agenda, Guo Ping, the chief of Foreign Trade Department of Hangzhou Municipal Commission of Commerce, said that Hangzhou and Dubai were two cornerstones of China's Belt and Road Initiative which aims to economically integrate Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

"The will to expand trade ties is there from both sides and we are very optimistic for the next five years," Guo told Xinhua at the sidelines of the event.

As the host city of the G20 summit in 2016, Hangzhou "is now well-known to the world as a hub for e-commerce, global trade, financial services and as a focal point of 8,000 years of Chinese rich cultural history," She said.

Cong Hongbin, the vice chairman of International Relations of Dubai's government-controlled Falcon and Associates, said that free trade zones in Dubai play a vital role in boosting Dubai-China trade relations.

"The more than 20 free trade zones in Dubai that allow free capital and profit repatriation along with a 50-year tax holiday are the fertile grounds for rising Dubai-China trade relations," he said.

Earlier in October, the Dubai Customs said that China remains Dubai's biggest trading partner in the first half of 2016 with a bilateral trade of $21.52 billion.