Bikram Vohra :
The visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the UAE is a vitally important milestone on the Belt and Road initiative which is currently a work in swift progress. The UAE sees this as a strategic linkage and the world will watch carefully as traditional ties between the Arab world and China are further strengthened over these few days. These ties can be traced historically to the seventh century and the days of the Silk route when trade and commerce through this region from what was the Far East and the Orient achieved iconic and romantic fame. It was the most talked about route in the world and conjured up names of adventurers like Marco Polo, Xuanzang and Ibn Battuta. Not much has changed, and even today a large chunk of China’s exports is dispatched through the UAE ports. By the same token, expanding economic ties is also on the cards particularly through the aegis of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and other financial institutions.
Ever since the two nations established diplomatic relations in 1984 the commercial graph has been soaring upwards and is now even more robust than ever. China has made it abundantly clear that the UAE is one of China’s most important economic partners in the region. It is the core country for China to export goods to the Middle East and African markets.”
The Chinese president most decidedly received a very warm and affectionate welcome to the UAE which has established its credentials as a forward thinking entity with a credible standing in the comity of nations as a good referee to negotiate agreements across the globe while also maintaining its own independent foreign policy in as much a non-aligned way as possible. China appreciates the UAE’s stance on global issues of importance and also its geo-political positioning as well as its well thought-out trade policies and its standing in the world of commerce as a partner of high worth.
There are already 2,000 Chinese companies operating in the UAE and the flourishing community is further enhanced by the influx of tourist traffic. The UAE is the second largest buyer in this region of Chinese goods and China, in turn, has as many as 2,500 labels registered in the UAE and also over 350 trade agencies.
The accent is clearly on further enhancing friendship and working for a better world by reading from the same page. The UAE is confident China will play a salutary role in Mena’s regional issues and also contributing to peace and stability in the region.
But it will not be all official work and agreements and MoUs. There will be many relaxed, informal moments and one can expect some candid and cordial conversations on matters of social and cultural value. Both peoples have deep cultural roots and give great weight to the preservation of customs and traditions so we can see these expressions of the coveted past sharing the stage. With over 200,000 Chinese in the UAE though there are sources which claim closer to 300,000 in situ the visit of their president will add more joy and gaiety to the informal events and functions. One can expect them to come out in great numbers and add splashes of colour and good cheer to the arrival. That personal ‘feel good’ sensation will heighten as a result.
The UAE is a splendid host and this impressive hospitality has been seen on frequent VIP visits. President Xi can look forward to a memorable visit and an across-the-board bonding of ties that are already forged in a crucible of mutual respect and regard. It may be recalled that in 2015 when His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, visited Beijing, the two nations signed 12 Memorandums of Understanding. The priorities this time are likely to be trade in all its dimensions, an upswing for tourism, a joint appreciation of the defence needs for the immediate and long term future with the adjunct of regional security per se and also general development with accent on education. In fact, all the aspects that concern these two powers include the fallout from the misuse of social platforms, the resistance to the growing dark underbelly of the Internet and the control of fake news. These media related issues are now of the essence and might be touched upon.
The UAE is also keen to enter into dialogue with Beijing on sensitive issues regarding the ‘maintenance of world security, countering the scourge of terrorism, the refugee problem that emanates from areas of conflict on humanitarian grounds and the need to resist extreme ideologies.’
In broader terms, the aim will be to generate an even more durable strategic partnership at multiple levels and widen the scope of the free trade agreement with the GCC enclave. The world sees the UAE as the centre of the east-west highway and of unique positioning. China is no different and we can look forward to a very fruitful stopover.
(Bikram Vohra is former Editor of Khaleej Times)
