Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), one of the seven sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), hopes that China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative will boost Chinese investment in the northern emirate, following meetings on Thursday between senior officials from the two sides.
The new Chinese Consul General in Dubai, Li Lingbing, met with the RAK ruler and also member of the UAE supreme council, Sheikh Saud Al-Qasimi, on Thursday.
The sheikh said the people of the UAE admire the great achievements of the Chinese economy, and agreed that China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative is a good opportunity to further strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership between China and the UAE.
Sheikh Saud stressed that while RAK has a beautiful natural environment and rich tourism resource, hoping that the Chinese initiative could strengthen the all-round bilateral cooperation in tourism, trade, education, culture, among other fields.
Ms. Li also led a delegation of the Chinese Business Council to the Ras al-Khaima Free Trade Zone (RAK FTZ) and other institutions. The Chairman of the free zone said that RAK attaches great importance to economic and trade cooperation with Chinese enterprises. More than 45 Chinese enterprises have based in the free zone, and the RAK FTZ will also send a business delegation to visit China in September to attract investment.
For the past 10 years, Sino-UAE bilateral trade has grew by more than 20 percent annually, reaching 54.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, according to Li.
The UAE has for many years remained China's second largest trading partner, the largest export market and the fourth largest crude oil supplier in the Arab world.
