China Securities has secured regulatory approvals to launch a regional office in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Concurrently, JD.com subsidiary JINGDONG Property has agreed to construct a 150,000-square-metre smart logistics facility in Abu Dhabi's KEZAD economic zone.
China's outbound direct investment to the UAE reached $2.6 billion, more than tripling the previous year's total as overall Middle East flows doubled. In parallel, Beijing-based China Securities secured regulatory approvals to open a regional office in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Chinese banking institutions now account for over 30 percent of total assets in DIFC's Banking and Capital Markets sector.
UAE legal consultancy Ape Law has updated its public UAE Virtual Asset Service Provider Licence Tracker using data collected on September 27, 2026. The tool indexes 116 authorisations across 115 distinct entities and 207 permission lines spanning five UAE regulatory regimes. It enables market participants to verify legal entities and permitted activities directly against official regulatory records.
The Central Bank of the UAE has introduced the Insurance Company Licensing Regulation (Circular 4/2026), establishing stricter entry rules for domestic and foreign insurers. Regulators will assess applicants based on their commercial proposition, product demand, and domestic premium retention alongside technical compliance. Insurers based in financial free zones such as DIFC and ADGM will be treated as foreign insurance companies for onshore operations.
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