UAE's Dubai eyes stronger trade ties with China

China, the second largest economy in the world, is considered the capital of the East, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), particularly Dubai, has close economic ties with it in various fields, the Dubai Economic Council's (DEC) chief said on Sunday.

"It is the time to deepen those relationships and turn them into partnerships involving a strategy of projects of the public and private sectors to contribute to achieving the aspirations of the UAE to be one of the most advanced economies," DEC's Secretary General Hani Rashid Al-Hamli told UAE state news agency WAM.

Earlier, Al-Hamli and a DEC delegation wrapped up a several days' business visit to China, according to WAM.

During the visit, the delegation held meetings with senior Chinese officials in Beijing and other Chinese cities, as well as with a number of Chinese public institutions to build bridges of cooperation for the implementation of a number of future projects.

Al Hamli said that the visit comes as part of a series of visits by the council to China in order to establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with decision-making departments and economy research centers in China.

Earlier in March, Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al-Maktoum said China was Dubai's leading trading partner in 2015 with 47.95 billion U.S. dollars in commerce.

Now almost 300,000 Chinese citizens live and work in the UAE, along with over 4,000 companies, 249 trade agencies, and 5,451 registered Chinese brands, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy.