The major investments being made by China not only in their own country but globally, make it all too clear that China is serious about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). One of the largest Chinese companies, East Hope Group, has taken the initiative to make a 10 Billion Dollar investment in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi located in the Middle East. This investment is being initiated mainly to create a strong bond between China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Chinese Government aims to establish its presence in the Middle East mainly via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Middle-East Policy of China concerns mainly the UAE. Taking the large investment in KIZAD by China into account, Abu Dhabi is considered as the main city involved from the UAE region for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The proposal made by the East Hope Group regarding investment is expected to be deployed over a period of fifteen years divided into three stages. The first investment is in the development of an alumina facility followed by a red-mud research center. The last project is concerned with the facilitation of the processing of metals such as aluminum, copper, brass, etc. The East Hope Company and Emirates Global Aluminum are both some of the largest non-ferrous metal producers in the world.

The Belt and Road initiative encompasses a string of infrastructure projects stretching over Europe, Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region. The BRI is a Chinese investment project and is expected to make trade around the world much easier.  Many countries that were doubtful at first, now desire to link their local infrastructure to China’s BRI. The Middle-East is also a major part of the BRI and so is UAE.

The relationship between China and UAE has strengthened over time and the credit for this goes to all the investments made by China in the UAE. The China-UAE economic relations have experienced a boom, as well as the bilateral trade, which has experienced a $43 billion rise since 2016. The UAE was recently represented by Dubai’s ruler at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in China where multiple billion-dollar deals were signed between the two countries.

The Belt and Road Initiative is meant to play a significant role in the foreign policy of China. Considering the potential of the Middle East, we can expect to see a greater influx of Chinese investment in the UAE.