China tops the list of trading partners for both Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafz) and Dubai, and last year alone Chinese goods worth Dh18 billion ($4.9 billion) passed through Jafz, according to the chief of the free zone authority.

Salma Hareb, CEO of the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza) and Economic Zones World, made the remark during a ceremony to mark the opening of Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation’s Middle East headquarters in Jafz recently.
Hareb said: “The past decade has seen relations between China and Dubai grow exponentially as a result of the all-round developments we have been witnessing in Dubai and the rest of the UAE.
“By partnering with one of the world’s fastest-growing free-zones, Shanghai Baosteel has initiated a strategy for a win-win situation on the basis of mutual benefit and it is indeed an honour for Jafza to be home to a Fortune 500 company like Shanghai Baosteel.”
Shanghai Baosteel Corporation, which established its offices in Jafza in January, is a large iron and steel conglomerate set up in 1998 with the former Baoshan Iron and Steel (Group) Corporation as the core, and absorbing the former Shanghai Metallurgical Holding Group Corporation and the former Shanghai Meishan Group Co Ltd.
Baosteel has a registered capital of 45.8 billion Yuan. It possesses 22 wholly owned subsidiaries (including nine overseas subsidiaries), 14 holding companies (including two overseas subsidiaries) and 24 equity-sharing companies.
Among the wholly owned subsidiaries and share holding companies, 11 are iron and steel companies, two are financial companies and eight are into trading.
Baosteel is one of the most profitable steel enterprises in the world with annual production capacity of about 20 million tonnes.
Present at the opening ceremony was Xie Qihua, chairman, China Iron and Steel Association.