Dubai Business Hub: New business center helps Chinese start-ups

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It's been three years since China overtook India as Dubai's largest trade partner. And thousands of Chinese businesses are now set up in the Middle Eastern city. But a brand-new project there is hoping to attract even more companies from China. Rosanna Lockwood reports.

Entering a foreign market can be challenging. But this new business centre's exclusively aimed at smoothing the way for Chinese start-ups that want to trade in Dubai.

ALEX CHEN, GENERAL MANAGER CHINESE BUSINESS HUB "Actually we are the first incubator company focused on Chinese companies in the Middle East. And we offer a wide range of services. We help Chinese companies to set-up here, to jump-start their business, to develop their business. And then we help them to find the right funding, if they need it, for single projects."

The Hub is located here in 'Dubai South'- a rapidly expanding economic zone with an international airport that's set to become the world's biggest in the next decade.

Officials here think the strategic location of the Chinese Business Hub could be important given the country's growing economic role in the region.

SHOAIB AL RAHIMI, VP BUSINESS PARK, DUBAI SOUTH "China could be one of the largest countries that could add value to this project and from different sectors as well. All the way from I.T. to aviation to logistics and trade."

The city's already home to around 4,500 Chinese-owned businesses. But the hub's management thinks there'll be a lot more in the future.

ALEX CHEN, GENERAL MANAGER CHINESE BUSINESS HUB "I would not be surprised in five or ten years if we have tens of thousands of Chinese companies here."

According to Dubai's government, its trade relationship with China was worth $12bn in the first quarter of 2017. And projects like this suggest there's still plenty of room for growth. Rosanna Lockwood, CGTN, Dubai