The People’s Republic of China and the UAE enjoy a long-term friendship.
On December 3, 1971, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, the founding President of the UAE, informed Zhou Enlai, the Chinese premier, of the independence of the UAE. China immediately announced it would recognise the UAE. Both sides expressed their willingness to enhance their friendship. Afterwards, China held an exhibition of export products in Dubai and set up the Changcheng Trading Centre there. Also, the Civil Aviation Administration of China set up an office in Sharjah. At the same time, Chinese table tennis teams and an art ensemble visited the UAE, and the UAE Foreign Minister travelled to China.
On November 1, 1984, Chinese and UAE leaders made the historic decision of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. In the last 31 years, bilateral political relations have become increasingly mature with fruitful cooperation in all fields and profound friendship among the peoples.
In the 1980s, I entered into foreign service and had the honour of witnessing and participating into the development of China-UAE relations. I was posted to the UAE from 2002 to 2006 and began to serve as Chinese ambassador to the UAE from December 2014. It is indeed my honour to be able to come back to this land, familiar to me and loved by me. That experience has allowed me to better understand the mutual trust between the two countries and the heartfelt friendship between the two peoples.
In December 1989, Yang Shangkun, then China’s president, was received at Abu Dhabi airport by Sheikh Zayed and other high ranking officials. A special arrangement was made for the motorcade to tour the streets of Abu Dhabi, which were lined with crowds to welcome the Chinese guests. This is a strong reflection of the friendship of Emiratis towards the Chinese, which greatly touched all members of the delegation. Yang Shangkun said that he never imagined Abu Dhabi would be so beautiful, adding that the people of the UAE were so hospitable.
In May 1990, Sheikh Zayed visited China and met with Yang Shangkun at the Great Hall of the People. During the meeting, Sheikh Zayed presented an elegant statue of a peacock as a gift. In return he was given a piece of silk made in Suzhou on which his image was depicted. What was unique about this portrait was that Sheikh Zayed could be seen to be smiling from whichever direction it was viewed. Sheikh Zayed said to President Yang: "My gift for you has a price but your gift to me is priceless." Chinese leaders were deeply impressed by the wisdom of Sheikh Zayed.
In 2007, Hu Jintao made a transit stopover in Dubai and was warmly received by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
In May 2008, the UAE Government made a generous donation of more than$50million to China after the earthquake in Wenchuan, making it one of the world's biggest donors to disaster-stricken areas in China. The Chinese people still have a fresh memory of that generosity.
In January 2012, Wen Jiabao attended the opening ceremony of the Fifth World Future Energy Summit. During the visit, the two sides signed a joint declaration on establishing a strategic partnership.
In 2009 and 2012, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited China at the invitation of Xi Jinping, then vice president of China. During the visit, Sheikh Mohammed held talks with the vice president and met with president Hu Jintao, premier Wen Jiabao and speaker Wu Bangguo. These visits have been extremely fruitful in areas such as energy, economy, trade, culture and education.
In February 2015, the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, visited the UAE, during which he met Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and held talks with Sheih Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the international arena, China and the UAE have been conducting close cooperation in partnership with the Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab League and the United Nations. China is supportive of the UAE in its efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and choose its own way of development. The UAE has stood side by side with the Chinese people on issues relevant to the interests of China.
China and the UAE have become friends and partners of mutual trust in safeguarding the interests of developing countries and regional peace and stability together.
As an ancient Chinese saying goes, a person should be independent at the age of 30. This means he can make some achievements in his career when he is 30 years old. This is particularly true with China-UAE relations for the last three decades, as bilateral economic cooperation and trade have been soaring, with more room for development.
Bilateral trade volume was less than $100 million at the time of establishment of diplomatic ties. The figure in 1995 exceeded $1 billion and by 2005 had exceeded $10bn. In 2014, bilateral trade volume stood at a new high of $54.8bn.
For many years, the UAE has been China’s second largest trading partner and the biggest export market in the Middle East and Northern African Region. Also, the UAE is an important trading hub for Chinese products. “Made-in-China” has entered into the everyday life of the UAE people.
The UAE views China as an important emerging investment market, while Chinese investors are optimistic about the potential of the UAE market. As of the end of last year, the UAE had a direct investment stock of $1.15bn in China with $6.19m newly added in the first nine months of this year. There are more than 4,000 Chinese enterprises now in the UAE with an investment stock of $1.66bn, of which $85.62m was newly added in the first nine months of this year. China’s investment in the UAE touches many areas: such as energy, telecommunications, transport, real estate, trade, finance, securities and services. Chinese investors include both powerful state-owned and self-employed enterprises.
I would like to especially touch upon the Dragon Mart in Dubai. It is the biggest Chinese market overseas, with the most shops and products and the most advanced business network. Also, it is the biggest trading hub of Chinese products in the Middle East. The owners of the more than 4,000 shops in the Dragon Mart are representatives of China’s self-employed enterprises, as evidenced by the fact that they work hard to provide daily necessities for very little return, thus making important contributions to people's lives.
Energy cooperation cannot be neglected when we talk about bilateral economic cooperation. China started importing oil from the UAE in 1995. In 2014, China imported more than 11.65 million tonnes of oil from the UAE, a year-on-year increase of 13.4 per cent. As China’s economy further develops, so its demand for oil will increase. What is more important is that China-UAE energy cooperation is not merely oil trade, but comprehensive upstream and downstream cooperation with mutual benefit. For example, the pipeline connecting the Habshan oilfield in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah was undertaken by China National Petroleum Corporation, which is a milestone project in bilateral energy cooperation. Currently, Al Yasat Corporation, a brainchild of China National Petroleum Corporation Hong Kong Branch and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, is operating on both land and sea in Abu Dhabi.
Financial cooperation is a new shining point in bilateral relations. The four biggest banks of China have all set up branches in the UAE. Abu Dhabi National Bank and Dubai National Bank have set up branches or started business in Shanghai. During his 2012 visit to China, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed initiated the setting up of a common investment fund of $10bn between the two countries. The UAE also joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, initiated by China, as a founding member.
The two peoples have been treating each other with sincerity and friendliness ever since we established diplomatic relations 31 years ago. When I first worked in the UAE several years ago, there were not many Chinese people or enterprises. Now there are many more. The people of the UAE have come to understand China through its products while most Chinese people working here have gradually integrated into local society and live happily together. At present, there are more than 200,000 Chinese in the UAE, the largest Chinese community in the Middle East. Scattered across every sector of social life, they work hard and make contributions to people-to-people exchanges as well as the economic growth of the UAE.
Tourism exchanges are also on the increase. The UAE was listed as a tourist destination for the Chinese in 2009. Thanks to the development of civil aviation, diverse tourism resources and excellent services provided by the UAE, more and more Chinese people are interested in seeing the sites of amazing Abu Dhabi and miraculous Dubai. Currently, there are around 150 flights each week between China and the UAE. In 2014, almost 500,000 Chinese tourists visited the country. The number of Chinese tourists has been increasing by more than 30 per cent every year. The UAE is also enlarging investment in tourism, hotel and retail sectors in China. Many hotels and shopping malls in the UAE hold activities with Chinese themes when the traditional holidays arrive.
Dialogues and exchanges between Chinese and Islamic civilisations are conducive to making both of them flourish. As a proverb in Arabic goes: “a fig-tree looking on a fig-tree becometh fruitful”.
Recent years have witnessed frequent exchanges between China and the UAE, as evidenced by the fact that Chinese artists, martial arts groups, acrobats and theatre troupes come to the UAE to perform and Emirati artists have been to China for insight.
Young students from the UAE visited China as youth ambassadors for three consecutive years under the sponsorship of the Crown Prince's Court. More and more Chinese students have come to the UAE for education. As a result, Masdar Institute, the Petroleum Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi and the American University of Sharjah are becoming more popular in China.
Dr Moza Al Kaabi, the first female Emirati orthopaedic surgeon, who sadly passed away in August, spent many years studying in China.
Under the auspices of the UAE Government, the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Centre for Arabic Language and Islamic Studies was set up by the Beijing Foreign Studies University. In turn, China established two Confucius Institutes in Zayed University and the University of Dubai. The two countries also began Chinese language courses at the Hamdan bin Zayed School in Abu Dhabi.
The last three decades coincide with the period during which the two countries developed quickly and created many miracles. China became the second largest economy in the world and successfully held the Olympic Games in 2008 and World Expo in 2010. Meanwhile, the UAE ranked among the top 30 nations in terms of economic aggregate demand, becoming one of the most investment-friendly countries, the 14th happiest country in the world and won the right to host the World Expo in 2020. In spite of the global economic downturn, China and the UAE have maintained an economic growth rate of 7.4 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively.
Over the last three decades, the two countries have been working hard to find the right development path. China has been pressing ahead with reform and opening up, with a focus on people, through scientific development. The Communist Party of China, with Xi Jinping as General Secretary, puts forward the China Dream, characterised by overall rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Under the wise leadership of the late Sheikh Zayed and, subsequently, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE, the country has maintained national security and stability, adopted open, free and diversified policies and allowed its people to lead a happy life, thus making itself a model in the Middle East. I believe that the two peoples have a similar dream: that is, we dream for better education, better jobs, higher salaries, more reliable social security, better health care, more spacious houses and a more beautiful environment, so that our children can grow better, work better and live better.
In August 2013, Xi Jinping put forward the great initiative of building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. In February 2014, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed indicated the willingness to rejuvenate the Silk Road, to make it a platform for cultural exchanges, a bridge for increasing mutual understanding and accelerating exchanges of knowledge, science, technology and trade and a strong bond to face challenges in Arab countries, East Asia, South Asia and even the whole world.
This demonstrates the political wisdom of the two nation's leaders as they share a similar strategy and vision. The Silk Road has been a path of trade, culture and cooperation between China and Arab countries since ancient times. Today, the international political and economic structure is full of opportunities and challenges. Therefore, it is all the more important for China and the UAE to rejuvenate the “Belt and Road” with innovative thinking so that regional economic development and cultural progress can be promoted. The key goals of policy exchanges: better trade flows, infrastructure connectivity, currency circulation and people-to-people contacts set forth in the initiative of Belt and Road, are also priorities for China to push forward our cooperation with the UAE.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Building the Belt and Road together calls for the wisdom and power of the two governments and the active participation and strenuous efforts of the two peoples. Many years ago, our ancestors traversed the vast Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean after braving many difficulties and brought silk, tea, porcelain and spices to other parts of the world. Today, our two countries stand together in combating various challenges and creating one miracle after another on their lands, bringing tangible benefits to their peoples and promoting common prosperity in the world.
Confucius once said that we are happy to see a friend from afar. At the invitation of Li Yuanchao, Vice President of China, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed is visiting China again this week. During the visit, leaders of the two countries will discuss plans for future cooperation and usher in a new era of China-UAE relations. The Chinese government and people will welcome our honoured guest with the greatest hospitality and grandest courtesy and try to achieve fruitful results in bilateral cooperation. I am confident that with the care and support of the leaders of the two countries and with efforts made by the two peoples, the China-UAE strategic partnership will surely embrace a brighter future guided by the vision of building the new Belt and Road together. It is more than certain that the Chinese people and people of the UAE will realise their dreams for prosperity.
The visit aims to further develop the friendship and strategic partnership between the two nations, and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest. It comes as part of ongoing efforts aimed to reinforce the long-term and deep-rooted strategic relationship between the UAE and China.
The visit, which includes a series of meetings with senior Chinese officials, will provide an opportunity to expand trade, economic, social and cultural exchange, improve industrial and investment relationships, explore new and vibrant opportunities between the people of the two countries, and promote partnership in areas of mutual interest that will have a positive impact on both sides.
Chang Hua is the Chinese ambassador to the UAE
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
The specs: Audi e-tron
Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)
Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Power: 408hp
Torque: 664Nm
Range: 400 kilometres
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
THREE
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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SPECS
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now