Dubai Business Forum – China in Shenzhen strengthens trade and investment partnerships between Dubai and China

The Dubai Business Forum – China concluded in Shenzhen, with the participation of 854 high-profile Chinese investors and business leaders, along with the largest overseas business delegation ever led by Dubai Chambers.

The delegation comprised 112 senior representatives from Dubai’s public and private sectors, reflecting ongoing efforts to unlock new opportunities for trade, investment, and partnerships between Dubai and China.


Held under the theme ‘Momentum at Scale: Accelerating Shared Success,’ the forum was organised by Dubai Chambers, with the Shenzhen Chamber of International Commerce and China Chamber of International Commerce Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce serving as supporting partners. The event brought together 22 expert speakers across 15 sessions that explored the strong potential for bilateral cooperation in future economy sectors such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, logistics, smart mobility, the digital economy, and venture capital.


The Dubai Chambers delegation was the largest it has ever led to an event outside Dubai. The diversity of participating companies and the broad range of sectors represented underline the importance of the Chinese market and highlight the forum’s vital role as a platform for fostering fruitful economic partnerships.

During his opening address, His Excellency Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Chairman of Dubai Chambers, stated: “The relationship between Dubai and China is built on decades of engagement, cooperation, and shared ambition. Mutual trust and closely aligned development visions have helped establish strong and growing trade ties between our markets.

Today, the complementary strengths of the Dubai and Chinese economies create broader opportunities to move beyond established relations towards a more advanced phase of investment, innovation, and shared value creation. We look forward to building on this momentum by expanding the connections between our business communities and encouraging partnerships that bring together Dubai and China’s mutual capabilities and advanced technologies to support sustainable growth and advance our shared interests.”

His Excellency added: “China now ranks as Dubai’s largest trading partner globally. Non-oil trade between our markets has grown rapidly over the past decade, rising from AED166.4 billion in 2016 to around AED363.5 billion in 2025, representing growth of 118.4%. During the same period, Dubai attracted more than 300 foreign direct investment projects from China, with combined capital exceeding AED24.6 billion between 2016 and 2025.”

His Excellency further said: “The number of Chinese companies registered as active members of Dubai Chamber of Commerce has more than tripled since 2016, reaching 6,650 by the end of September 2026. Chinese companies now have an established presence across Dubai’s trade and services ecosystem, with more than 3,830 companies operating in these sectors, accounting for around 58% of all Chinese member companies. This reflects Dubai’s growing role as a strategic gateway enabling Chinese companies to trade, distribute, and expand across multiple markets.”

His Excellency added: “The growing momentum between our economies is reflected in the progress achieved since our previous Dubai Business Forum – China in Beijing. Between 2024 and 2025, non-oil trade between Dubai and China grew by almost 23%, while Chinese FDI capital into Dubai almost tripled during the same period, rising from around AED1.2 billion to more than AED3.4 billion.”

Strategic investment platform

The forum highlighted the growth opportunities created by the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, for Chinese companies and investors, particularly in trade, investment, technology, and innovation. It also showcased the strengths that reinforce Dubai’s position as a strategic platform for Chinese and international investment, including its agile legislative and regulatory environment, advanced infrastructure, and supportive ecosystem for business and innovation.

The sessions also highlighted Dubai’s role as a commercial, logistics, and financial hub that connects companies with regional and global markets and enables them to establish and expand their operations efficiently.

His Excellency Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, participated in a fireside chat in which he discussed Dubai’s Agentic AI transformation programme for the private sector, which is led by Dubai Chambers. The programme aims to accelerate the adoption of Agentic AI technologies across Dubai’s business community, empower more than 295,000 private sector companies, and develop and deliver 100 specialised AI assistants over two years. Dubai Chambers is currently training 14,000 private-sector companies in Agentic AI. This will enhance the ability of businesses to keep pace with global technological shifts and benefit from advanced smart solutions, further strengthening Dubai’s position as a global hub for the digital economy and future industries.

Integrating advanced technologies

Specialised sessions explored Dubai’s growing role as a real-world testbed for city-wide AI applications and examined opportunities to develop autonomous mobility solutions within advanced regulatory frameworks and an infrastructure that supports innovation.

Participants in a session on deploying AI at scale also emphasised the importance of moving beyond pilot projects towards applications that deliver measurable commercial impact and strengthen companies’ ability to integrate intelligent technologies into their operations, services, and business models.

One session explored opportunities to strengthen two-way investment flows between Dubai and China, particularly in areas including AI, fintech, advanced manufacturing, and digital infrastructure. Participants also discussed ways to enable investors in Dubai to access opportunities across China’s private equity and venture capital markets and innovation-led sectors, strengthening Dubai’s role as a platform connecting capital with innovation and international expansion.

The AI economy

Participants in another fireside chat focused on the foundations required to build an AI economy, including advanced computing capacity, smart infrastructure, and scalable digital ecosystems. They also highlighted the importance of developing technological capabilities and specialised talent to support the adoption of AI solutions across diverse sectors and strengthen Dubai’s position as a hub for innovation, technology deployment, and knowledge-driven growth.

The forum’s sessions addressed the pivotal role of logistics connectivity and digital trade in supporting the global expansion of companies. Participants discussed ways to develop faster, more efficient, and better-connected trade corridors linking Asia, the Middle East, and global markets.

In addition, the sessions examined the contributions of integrated logistics infrastructure, ports, airports, digital solutions, and AI-powered systems to facilitate the movement of goods and capital and support the international growth strategies of Chinese companies.

A session focused on sustainable mobility explored the opportunities created by combining the manufacturing and innovation capabilities of Chinese companies with Dubai’s extensive regional and global connectivity. It highlighted the importance of building strategic partnerships that support the expansion of electric mobility solutions, strengthen consumer confidence, and advance the transition towards a more sustainable economy.


The forum’s sessions also highlighted the experiences of global companies that have successfully expanded from Dubai into regional and international markets. Discussions explored how Dubai’s flexible business environment, advanced infrastructure, and global connectivity enable companies to scale their operations and diversify their activities.