China poised to be largest export market for GCC countries by 2020

Asian countries, China and India in particular, are poised to become the biggest trading partners of the six Arab oil states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, said a report released on Tuesday by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Dubai-based Falcon and Associates.

According to the study entitled "GCC Trade and Investment Flows," China will be the largest export market for the GCC countries by 2020. The six GCC countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

"Between 2010 and 2013, GCC-China trade grew faster than with any other significant trade partners," said the report.

Chinese investment is also rising in construction and wholesale trade and retail, with over 3,000 Chinese companies registered in Dubai (up from only 18 in 2005).

Cong Hongbin, managing director of Invest Dubai, Falcon and Associates, called the trend "a new era" of Asian growth as countries revisit and reinvest in the New Silk Road.

"Dubai is at the very centre of this. In 2013, China was Dubai's second largest trading partner, and was on course to overtake India after 21.9 bn dollars of trade was recorded in the first six months of this year," he said.

There are 270,000 Chinese nationals living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), most of them in the emirate of Dubai.

In anticipation of the expanding East-East ties, the four major Chinese banks ICBC, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China, have been setting up branches in Dubai since 2008.

On the other hand, the two biggest UAE lenders, Emirates NBD from Dubai and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, expanded their offices to mainland China.

Last week, the UAE's third lender by market value, First Gulf Bank, said it was considering expanding to mainland China. The major UAE lenders have established Renminbi banking services in recent years in order to serve the growing Sino-Arab trade ties.