China advanced seven places among Middle East travellers' preferred destinations following an 18% increase in flight searches. Travel platform Trip reported a 1,023.53% increase in custom tour bookings from the UAE to China, supported by visa-free access for GCC passport holders and a 44% decline in airfares to Shanghai.
Bilateral non-oil trade between Dubai and China reached 2.1 trillion dirhams ($571.8 billion) between 2016 and 2025, according to Dubai Chambers. Speaking at the Dubai Business Forum – China in Shenzhen, officials noted that Chinese foreign direct investment into Dubai surged 179 percent in 2025 across 91 projects.
Legal and compliance specialists clarified that employee medical history, psychiatric evaluations, and therapy records remain confidential under UAE privacy provisions. Employers cannot legally demand disclosure of these records even when addressing declining workplace performance. For sick leave under UAE Labour Law, workers are only required to provide official medical certificates without disclosing specific diagnoses.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi met Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang in Beijing to advance trilateral economic cooperation between ASEAN, China, and the GCC. Discussions focused on building toward a trilateral agreement and promoting greater use of the Chinese renminbi in China-GCC trade. Officials noted that expanded local currency trade could impact exchange rates among the renminbi, the Malaysian ringgit, and GCC currencies.
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