Abu Dhabi’s main private-sector representative has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Shanghai’s foreign investment promotion agency, setting up a new channel to expand trade, investment and company-level partnerships between two of Asia’s active commercial centres.
The agreement between the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Shanghai Foreign Investment Development Board, known as Invest Shanghai, was signed during the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum in Shanghai. The forum was organised by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office with Abu Dhabi Global Market and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, placing the chamber’s outreach within a wider push to present the emirate as a base for Chinese companies seeking regional and international growth.
Ali Mohamed Al Marzooqi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber, and Xue Feng, President of Invest Shanghai, signed the memorandum. The pact creates a framework for sharing information on business conditions and investment opportunities, helping companies assess market entry, improving investor services and arranging forums that bring together business groups from Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.
The agreement comes as economic ties between the UAE and China move beyond hydrocarbons and infrastructure into finance, advanced manufacturing, logistics, digital trade, clean technology and professional services. Non-oil trade between the two countries reached $111.5 billion in 2025, crossing the $100 billion mark for the first time and rising 24.5 per cent year on year. China remains one of the UAE’s largest trading partners, while the UAE has become a key commercial platform for Chinese groups operating across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
For Abu Dhabi, the Shanghai agreement fits into an external engagement strategy built around chambers, investment offices, financial free zones and sector regulators. The emirate has been seeking to deepen its role in global value chains as it diversifies from oil income. Chinese businesses are active in the emirate in trade, construction, manufacturing and financial services, while new memberships by Chinese companies at the Abu Dhabi Chamber rose by 85 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Abu Dhabi’s own trade performance has strengthened that pitch. The emirate’s non-oil foreign trade rose 36 per cent in 2025, supported by a 63 per cent increase in non-oil exports to AED175.4 billion. Imports grew to AED170.4 billion and re-exports reached AED70 billion, reflecting the emirate’s effort to combine production, ports, aviation links and financial infrastructure into a broader trade platform.
Shanghai brings complementary weight to the partnership. The city is one of China’s leading commercial, financial and industrial centres, with links to multinational companies, capital markets, shipping, manufacturing and technology. Its investment promotion agencies play a central role in connecting overseas partners with Chinese firms and municipal-level opportunities, making Invest Shanghai a useful counterpart for Abu Dhabi’s private-sector network.
The memorandum is expected to help companies on both sides move from general interest to structured engagement. For Abu Dhabi firms, Shanghai offers access to China’s consumer, industrial and technology ecosystems, as well as opportunities to work with companies expanding outward. For Shanghai-based groups, Abu Dhabi provides proximity to Gulf markets, Africa-facing trade routes, stable regulatory platforms and a financial centre used for regional headquarters, asset management and cross-border investment activity.
The chamber said the partnership would support practical initiatives and projects that create value for business communities, while Invest Shanghai framed the arrangement as an institutional platform to broaden the exchange of knowledge and investment opportunities. The focus on investor services is significant because companies entering unfamiliar markets often face constraints linked to licensing, banking, legal procedures and sector approvals.
The agreement between the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Shanghai Foreign Investment Development Board, known as Invest Shanghai, was signed during the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum in Shanghai. The forum was organised by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office with Abu Dhabi Global Market and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, placing the chamber’s outreach within a wider push to present the emirate as a base for Chinese companies seeking regional and international growth.
Ali Mohamed Al Marzooqi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber, and Xue Feng, President of Invest Shanghai, signed the memorandum. The pact creates a framework for sharing information on business conditions and investment opportunities, helping companies assess market entry, improving investor services and arranging forums that bring together business groups from Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.
The agreement comes as economic ties between the UAE and China move beyond hydrocarbons and infrastructure into finance, advanced manufacturing, logistics, digital trade, clean technology and professional services. Non-oil trade between the two countries reached $111.5 billion in 2025, crossing the $100 billion mark for the first time and rising 24.5 per cent year on year. China remains one of the UAE’s largest trading partners, while the UAE has become a key commercial platform for Chinese groups operating across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
For Abu Dhabi, the Shanghai agreement fits into an external engagement strategy built around chambers, investment offices, financial free zones and sector regulators. The emirate has been seeking to deepen its role in global value chains as it diversifies from oil income. Chinese businesses are active in the emirate in trade, construction, manufacturing and financial services, while new memberships by Chinese companies at the Abu Dhabi Chamber rose by 85 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Abu Dhabi’s own trade performance has strengthened that pitch. The emirate’s non-oil foreign trade rose 36 per cent in 2025, supported by a 63 per cent increase in non-oil exports to AED175.4 billion. Imports grew to AED170.4 billion and re-exports reached AED70 billion, reflecting the emirate’s effort to combine production, ports, aviation links and financial infrastructure into a broader trade platform.
Shanghai brings complementary weight to the partnership. The city is one of China’s leading commercial, financial and industrial centres, with links to multinational companies, capital markets, shipping, manufacturing and technology. Its investment promotion agencies play a central role in connecting overseas partners with Chinese firms and municipal-level opportunities, making Invest Shanghai a useful counterpart for Abu Dhabi’s private-sector network.
The memorandum is expected to help companies on both sides move from general interest to structured engagement. For Abu Dhabi firms, Shanghai offers access to China’s consumer, industrial and technology ecosystems, as well as opportunities to work with companies expanding outward. For Shanghai-based groups, Abu Dhabi provides proximity to Gulf markets, Africa-facing trade routes, stable regulatory platforms and a financial centre used for regional headquarters, asset management and cross-border investment activity.
The chamber said the partnership would support practical initiatives and projects that create value for business communities, while Invest Shanghai framed the arrangement as an institutional platform to broaden the exchange of knowledge and investment opportunities. The focus on investor services is significant because companies entering unfamiliar markets often face constraints linked to licensing, banking, legal procedures and sector approvals.
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UAE