A staffer prepares heating equipment at Yiwu International Trade City in East China's Zhejiang Province, on October 13, 2022. Photo: VCG

 In a fresh effort to boost exports and grab for deals, over 1,000 Chinese businessmen have flown to Dubai to participate in a trade expo held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Monday to Wednesday, with some taking chartered flights organized by local governments. 

The expo is titled the 13th China HomeLife Dubai 2022, and it kicked off at the Dubai World Trade Centre. It is regarded as an important channel through which Chinese products couldexpand their overseas footprints, as bilateral cooperation between China and the Middle East increases.

Chen Guibin, representative from Dongguan Chaojie Silicon Rubber Products Co, an exhibitor who is participating in the trade fair, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the contracts his company reached with local clientshave exceeded several hundreds of dollars, and they’re one step closer to the goal of hitting $1 million trade by value during the expo. 

While the pandemic affected the international trade of his company in the past three years, the trade fair has helped his company to make up the losses in the past three years. 

“Now I have received name cards from over 60 clients, and about 20 of them have shown their willingness to clinch trade contracts. Some clients also invited us to visit their companies,” said Chen, noting that this journey to Dubai has lived up to expectations. 

The Guangdong private business group on the chartered flight included more than 200 representatives from 150 local enterprises, and the schedules of the trade fair and chartered flights were determined in November, according to Chen. Representatives are from a wide range of industries, including food and mechanical products, as well as home appliances and cosmetics. 

This year, the area of the exhibition expanded four times to 25,000 square meters, and more than 30,000 Made-in-China products were presented, the official website of the trade fair showed. 

Chen said that the company is planning to register for the China HomeLife Dubai 2023, based on the fruitful results this year and long-term support policies from both governments. 

The UAE is an important transportation hub and the largest trade center in the Middle East, and the trade fair in Dubai will cover a market with 1.3 billion people in six Persian Gulf nations, as well as seven nations in Western Asia, Africa and Southern European nations, state broadcaster CCTV reported. 

Since the nation’s COVID-19 response measures were optimized at the end of November, multiple provinces including East China's Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, Southwest China's Sichuan Province and South China's Guangdong Province have launched government-backed charter flights to help private enterprises to snap up export orders. 

“We are planning to join more trade fairs in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia if possible, in order to enhance the connections with our clients in various regions across the globe,” Chen said. 

Analysts said that boosting domestic private companies will generate business confidence amid global economic headwinds, and also build a solid start for the country’s economic recovery in 2023. 

In November, China’s foreign trade hit 3.7 trillion yuan, up 0.1 percent year-on-year. The growth rate fell sharply from 6.9 percent in October to the lowest point since May.