DMCC sees over 1,000 Chinese firms join Dubai free trade zone in 2025

China is playing a leading role in shaping the future of global trade across diverse sectors, as more Chinese businesses have settled in Dubai for international expansion last year, said a senior executive on Monday during a roadshow in Shanghai.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and chief executive officer of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), the largest free trade zone in the United Arab Emirates, announced that the center is now home to more than 1,000 Chinese companies, up 9.4 percent over the past 12 months alone.

"From semiconductors, data centers, and critical minerals powering artificial intelligence, to electric vehicles, batteries, and the wider clean-energy supply chain, China is playing a leading role in shaping the future of global trade," said Sulayem.

He added that Dubai and DMCC could provide Chinese businesses with a platform for international growth, connecting them to almost 27,000 companies across technology, energy, finance, commodities, and other sectors where Chinese industry holds significant global strength.

"Our focus now is on building that momentum and supporting more Chinese companies to establish a presence in Dubai, scale their operations, and reach new international markets," he added.

During the roadshow, the center also launched the Chinese-language edition of its Future of Trade 2026 report. The report finds that global trade will remain resilient over the next two years, but under a fundamentally different operating model shaped by artificial intelligence at operational scale, structural tariff volatility, supply chains designed for resilience rather than cost efficiency, and intensifying competition for industrial advantage in critical minerals and clean-energy infrastructure.

The report indicates artificial intelligence as a dominant driver of trade growth. Trade in AI-related goods, including semiconductors, servers and data-center hardware, expanded by more than 20 percent in the first half of 2025. Although AI-related goods represented only 15 percent of global trade by volume, they generated 43 percent of total trade growth during the period.

The report also highlights the continued rise of South-South trade and the growing influence of middle powers. Trade between developing economies now accounts for approximately 35 percent of global flows, surpassing North-North trade at around 25 percent.

Following the Shanghai launch of the center's China roadshows this year, its senior delegation is set to meet business communities in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, and Xi'an in Shaanxi province, shortly.