The 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit China Arab Internet Development and Cooperation Forum was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province, the seventh China Arab States Radio and Television Cooperation Forum was opened in Chongqing, the China Saudi Arabia Business Roundtable was held in Riyadh, the ninth Saudi Arabia "Future Investment Initiative" Conference was opened in Riyadh, China achieved visa free coverage of all member countries of the Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council (GCC), and the Gulf countries "China Tour" boom has surged recently. Overseas Chinese who frequently travel between China and the region are seizing new opportunities and playing a unique role in promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and countries in the region. Xiang Jingru, Executive Chairman of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in the United Arab Emirates, personally experienced the hot economic and trade exchanges between China and Arab countries and saw new opportunities. "One of my purposes for attending the CIIE is to visit relevant departments and enterprises in Shanghai, hoping to introduce high-quality innovative Chinese enterprises to Dubai, where the current investment return rate is very high. ”Xiang Jingru, Executive Chairman of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in the United Arab Emirates, has been very busy lately. "Before coming to the China International Import Expo, I just went to Chengdu. Last month, I received several business delegations from Zhejiang in Dubai. This month, I will also receive several delegations from Fujian." 20 years ago, Xiang Jingru was attracted by Dubai Dragon City and went to the United Arab Emirates to start a business. Dubai Dragon City is named after its construction pattern resembling a long dragon. Since its opening in December 2004, it has become a famous Chinese commodity distribution and trade center in the Middle East, as well as a bridge for smooth trade between China and the Middle East and Africa. I am engaged in shoe and clothing trade. Longcheng's business is very good, not only targeting the UAE market, but also radiating to Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as the entire West Asia and North Africa region. Nowadays, it is still difficult to find shops in Longcheng. ”Xiang Jingru said. The United Arab Emirates has been China's largest export market and second largest trading partner in the Middle East for several consecutive years. In 2024, the bilateral trade volume between China and Arab countries reached a historical record of 101.8 billion US dollars. At the same time, the United Arab Emirates has become a popular option for Chinese enterprises to go global and is seen as an important gateway for expanding into the Middle East, North Africa, and global markets. In recent years, the Middle East has become one of the hotspots for Chinese enterprises to go global. Many products such as daily consumer goods and electronic products in Middle Eastern countries have a high proportion of import dependence, and citizens of several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have high consumption capacity and a relatively friendly attitude towards Chinese products. In terms of personnel exchanges, China has achieved full visa free coverage for all member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and there are also many direct flights. For example, the fastest travel time from China to Dubai is just over 5 hours, allowing for morning departure and evening arrival, and the option to leave at any time. Moreover, as a tourist destination, Dubai can achieve the integration of leisure tourism and business inspection. ”Xiang Jingru personally experienced the hot economic and trade exchanges between China and Arab countries, and saw new opportunities. "In the past two years, there have been more and more business delegations from China to Dubai. On the one hand, Dubai's exhibition economy is developed, and many companies come to participate. On the other hand, local government departments, industry associations, and enterprise representatives in China also come to Dubai for business inspections. During my 20 years in the United Arab Emirates, I have accumulated a lot of local resources. Therefore, at the end of 2023, I established a new company with the goal of better serving Chinese enterprises going abroad to the Middle East. For example, we can help Chinese enterprises developing in the Middle East accurately link local resources and assist them in landing. Last year, our Longcheng region alone received more than 200 domestic business inspection delegations. Next, in addition to continuing my textile trade, I will focus more on the relevant content of business investigation. ”Jin Lu'an, President of the Bahrain Overseas Chinese Association - A diversified and new opportunity filled business environment is taking shape. In the future, full of hope. Recently, the "2025 China Shanghai Education Exhibition and Shanghai Bahrain Education International Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Conference" was held at the Bahrain Convention Center. More than 80 representatives from the Ministry of Education, Higher Education Commission, 13 universities and 4 international schools in Bahrain, as well as over 140 participants from Shanghai universities, attended the exchange and promotion conference. The company of Jin Lu'an, the president of the Bahrain Overseas Chinese Association, participated in the ground service and conference planning work of this event. In recent years, the exchanges and cooperation between China and Bahrain have shown unprecedented vitality at all levels. For example, the Dongxitela affordable housing project, Adu Phase II power station project, fiberglass production investment, etc., China's technology and capital are precisely matched with Bahrain's development needs, directly benefiting local livelihoods and industrialization processes. In addition, Bahrain has opened direct flights to China, signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation between China and Pakistan, and a 'Chinese fever' has emerged in Bahrain's campuses... People to people exchanges between the two countries have become more convenient. ”Jin Lu'an said. In recent years, China Pakistan relations have developed steadily and healthily. 2024 marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. Both sides have agreed to elevate the China Pakistan relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, marking a new milestone in the history of China Pakistan relations. Jin Lu'an started trading in the United Arab Emirates in 2004 and started a business in Bahrain in 2015. Currently, he mainly engages in trading businesses such as building materials, sanitary ware, and door locks. Nowadays, he feels full of vitality: "I can clearly feel that the business environment in Bahrain is changing. Bahrain is no longer an economy that relies solely on oil and gas in traditional perception. Its economic transformation has exceeded many people's expectations, and a diversified and new opportunity filled business environment is taking shape." In recent days, Jinluan participated in the China International Import Expo for the first time with full expectations: "I have three goals. First, Bahrain is fully promoting the development of renewable energy. I hope to use the China International Import Expo and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum to learn from China's mature experience in green infrastructure and seize opportunities in Bahrain's green transformation. At the same time, Bahrain, which has a developed financial industry, has 5G technology The coverage rate is high, and I hope to find opportunities to promote the digitalization of Bahrain's small and medium-sized enterprises by linking Chinese fintech companies with the capital market. Secondly, I hope to take the CIIE as an opportunity to leverage the role of overseas Chinese as a link, providing policy consultation, market adaptation and other services to assist Bahrain's small and medium-sized enterprises in the fields of agriculture, food, light industry, culture and tourism in connecting with Chinese buyers and distributors, and helping them explore the Chinese market. Thirdly, I also hope to introduce Bahrain's history, culture, and tourism resources to the Chinese people through the CIIE platform, and promote two-way cultural and tourism exchanges between the two countries. ”As someone who has been working in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for many years, Jinluan has many ideas for the future: either trying other industries in the UAE or entering the Saudi market. The future is full of hope. He Zhijun, Secretary General of the Zhejiang University Alumni Association in the Middle East, was fortunate enough to seize two opportunities. This time, we are seizing the national transformation dividend of Saudi Arabia. According to UAE media reports, PwC's latest survey shows that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are important investment destinations for Chinese companies in the Middle East, attracting 84% and 79% of surveyed companies respectively. Saudi Arabia, with its rapid economic transformation and vast market size, has become one of the main choices for corporate expansion in the next 3 to 5 years. The investment field is also expanding, with emerging industries such as digital technology, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and biopharmaceuticals attracting more attention. Guided by the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road", China and Saudi Arabia have achieved fruitful economic and trade cooperation, with bilateral trade volume exceeding US $100 billion for two consecutive years. As a overseas Chinese deeply involved in Saudi Arabia, He Zhijun feels fortunate to have seized two opportunities. In 2001, I entered Zhejiang University to study finance, and later my classmate who started a business with me majored in e-commerce. After graduation, we opened a store on an overseas e-commerce platform. In 2013, domestic e-commerce platforms were already very mature. We want to replicate China's e-commerce model outside of China and luckily secured angel round financing. After testing the market in 64 countries overseas, we found that Saudi Arabia had the best data. Therefore, we conducted market research in Saudi Arabia and confirmed that the women's clothing market in Saudi Arabia is larger than expected. At that time, there were not many cost-effective Chinese women's clothing products in Saudi Arabia, while on the other hand, the popularity of smartphones was already quite high. It can be said that our first venture benefited from two kinds of dividends: one is China's supply chain dividend, and the other is the mobile Internet dividend. ”In just two years, the mobile shopping platform co founded by He Zhijun and his college classmates has become a well-known and highly ranked e-commerce application platform in the Middle East. Afterwards, their business not only expanded to other categories, but also expanded their coverage to other Gulf countries, and began to lay out in the logistics and payment fields, creating a complete e-commerce ecosystem. However, the COVID-19, which began in 2020, became the turning point of He Zhijun's career. The company has gradually sold its logistics and payment segments to local families in Saudi Arabia, and officially ended its e-commerce business in Saudi Arabia in 2022. He Zhijun saw a new opportunity. Saudi Arabia proposed the "2030 Vision" in 2016, which aims to reduce dependence on oil and promote economic and social diversification as its core mission. Through 96 specific goals, it aims to reshape the country's development path. In recent years, the "Vision 2030" is a deep docking with China's "the Belt and Road" initiative, and the cooperation has yielded fruitful results. For me, 2022 is a watershed year. In December 2022, the heads of state of China and Saudi Arabia personally signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After that, there were significantly more Chinese companies developing in Saudi Arabia. This time, we are seizing the national transformation dividend of Saudi Arabia. We have decided to use the resources accumulated in the first 10 years to serve Chinese enterprises, especially leading private enterprises, in going global. We mainly focus on five industries: infrastructure, biomedicine, photovoltaics, digital economy, and environmental protection. ”He Zhijun said, "Some of our local partners are local Saudi groups, and some are Chinese people who have been there for more than 10 years. There are still many people who see new opportunities. As the Secretary General of the Zhejiang University Alumni Association in the Middle East, He Zhijun said he never expected that there would be more than 70 Zhejiang University alumni in the Middle East: "Our alumni are mainly distributed in Gulf countries, with the most in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. There are four main types of work that everyone is engaged in. The first type is working as civil servants in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, mainly responsible for helping local governments attract excellent Chinese enterprises; the second type is the local leaders of major Chinese enterprises in the Middle East; the third type is starting businesses locally, mainly in emerging industries such as photovoltaics and robotics; and the fourth type is working as professors in local universities. In the eyes of someone like He Zhijun who is sensitive to opportunities, this is a fertile ground of hope. (New Society)