Mutual benefit binds falcon and dragon

China and the UAE continue to forge ever stronger trade links, rebuilding the successes delivered by the Old Silk Road.

DragonMart, developed by Nakheel at its International City in the Al Warsan area of Dubai, is the largest trading hub for products from China outside the Middle Kingdom.

Enter the dragon has taken on a whole new meaning for the Gulf. As ties strengthen between China and the UAE, where the falcon is a national symbol, the connections have become more diverse.

A quick glance of the projects that bring together the Middle Kingdom with the Middle East reveals a plastics factory in Shanghai, a horse racing complex planned on the outskirts of Beijing and residential property in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Far from being just trading partners that send oil in one direction and cheap consumer goods in the other, the UAE and China are developing links in fields as diverse as construction, telecommunications, manufacturing, securities and sport.