Dubai Customs Director General discusses the Promotion of Trade Exchange with the Chinese Consul

His Excellency Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, and Director General of Dubai Customs, received H.E Tang Weibin, Chinese Consul General in Dubai. During the meeting, they exchanged ideas in regards to methods for strengthening trade cooperation between Dubai and China, and the development of cooperation in the customs field to contribute to the growth of trade between the two parties. 

An emphasis was placed on the importance of developing trade relations with China, the second trading partner of Dubai, with a total value of foreign trade amounting to AED 99 billion during the period beginning in January up until September 2013. China is also the top trading partner of Dubai in relation to imports, with the value of imports amounting to AED 96 billion.  

H.E Ahmed Butti stressed: "Exchanging visits and mutual coordination with the customs and trade authorities in China promotes economic relations, increases the volume of the trade exchange, and supports the flow of Chinese investments to Dubai; coupled with the growing number of Chinese companies that make Dubai their regional office for managing their business in a vast number of locations in Europe and Africa.” 

A high profile delegation from Dubai Customs, headed by His Excellency Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, and Director General of Dubai Customs, paid an official visit to the People’s Republic of China last September to agree on the execution of an e-Link project between Dubai Customs and China Customs and to discuss the future of mutual cooperation. The delegation also discussed exchanging experience and training customs officers, in addition to increasing the opportunities for promoting trade relations between Dubai and the People's Republic of China through a number of customs procedures, together with benefiting from the customs systems adopted in both sides. 

There are 4,200 Chinese companies in UAE, operating within a flourishing Chinese society of 33 thousand people working in different fields such as trade, manufacturing, infrastructure, construction, services, consulting services, and other industries. Approximately 200,000 Chinese nationals live in the UAE.