Follow 'New wave' of Chinese investors set to return to Dubai property market
Living with their family in Dubai, the ease of doing business and the UAE’s safety record are high on the checklist of reasons why Chinese residents are moving to the UAE.
Some are moving back to a city they are familiar with, others will move later this year after Beijing ended stringent quarantine restrictions in place since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number of Chinese citizens living in the UAE has doubled to 400,000 since 2019 and about 6,000 Chinese companies operate in the UAE, Chinese government figures show.
A vibrant Chinese population and good international schools are key factors when Chinese citizens make comparisons between work and residency options in Dubai, Europe, Asia, the US, Canada or Australia.
Tour groups from China will also resume this month with the UAE included in a pilot list of 20 countries.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced that Chinese travel agencies could begin outbound tours to countries including the UAE, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Singapore, Egypt, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Argentina.
My son got good offers from big banks and he selected Dubai. Like him, others will come.
Jiqing Chen,
chair, UAE Shanxi Chamber of Commerce
Wu Zixuan left her home in Beijing just before New Year to be with her husband who has been working in Dubai for about 10 years.
Known as Vivi to friends, Ms Wu is keen to stay in Dubai at least until her son Ming, 8, completes his education.
The past few years have been tough as Ms Wu’s husband who works in the petroleum sector was unable to visit them frequently in China due to weeks-long quarantine regulations.
“The basic reason is for family, I want my family to live together,” says Ms Wu, a lawyer who specialises in intellectual property rights.
“I’m also interested in how to support my son’s education. I don’t want to keep changing the environment as he grows older.
“I want a stable situation for my family.”
Choice of schools
Dubai’s choice of schools from the International Baccalaureate to the American curriculum was an added draw.
Ms Wu is no stranger to Dubai having lived in the city for two years in 2018.
She moved back to China in March 2020, just before Covid-19 lockdowns shut national borders, as she was wanted her son to better understand their native culture.
“I went back because I wished my son would have a deep understanding of our language, our poems,” she said.
“But I did not like that my husband could not visit often. It impacted our family and so we decided to reunite.”
Her son’s acceptance at the Dubai International Academy, an IB institution on her shortlist of Dubai schools, cemented her decision to return.
Enthusiastic about Dubai, she ticks of the city’s advantages to friends and family in China who are considering a move.
“Chinese parents think a lot about their children’s education and schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are good,” Ms Wu said.
“I tell my friends Dubai is a good choice - they can start some business here.
“There are so many reasons I came back. I like the people, I like the smiles on people’s faces here, also the city is so international.
“I can feel the warmth. I like the safety of Dubai.”
However, the rising cost of living has come as a surprise when she compares prices to two years ago.
She pays Dh100 more on grocery shopping a week and finds restaurant meals more expensive.
Ms Wu is thankful education fees have not risen. Dubai's government has frozen private tuition fees for three years in a row.
“The prices are getting higher,” she said.
“For people who have lived in Beijing or big cities, they may think it’s okay.
“But it will be expensive for people from smaller villages.
“For people who have the financial ability to live abroad – Dubai may be one of the options but not the only option.”
'American cities just aren't safe'
Bingbing Chen has returned to Dubai, a city he has known as home since the age of five, from the United States.
The spate of shootings in California last week that killed at least 25 people vindicated his decision to leave after finishing a master’s degree in August.
“I have seen how dangerous the US can be like the violence during Lunar New Year in California,” the 25-year-old said.
“Usually California or New York is the place you want to start a business in - but both are filled with violence.”
He had a harrowing first-hand experience some years ago as witness to a mugging near his college campus in Boston.
“The guy covered his face, had a gun in his hand and assaulted a person in front of me,” he said. “That ended everything in my mind about staying in the US.
“I knew I didn’t want to be a victim.”
Mr Chen declined job offers from top investment banks in the US and China and instead aims to grow his parent’s shoe business in Dubai and later build a company of his own.
The emirate’s business-friendly and quick processes are a welcome change from the challenges he encountered when attempting to launch a small business project in the US.
“Dubai is a much better choice for me mainly because of the infrastructure to support small businesses,” he said.
“I want to be an entrepreneur and it was so easy to open a new office here.
“In the US, everything is time consuming. There are different laws in every state and separate federal laws when I tried to growing the family business there.”
He is working to set up an online platform so Lucky Shoes, his family business can attract buyers globally.
Mr Chen is upbeat about Chinese interest in the UAE following revamped visa rules.
“A lot of Chinese companies are looking to start here especially e-commerce firms,” he said.
“There will be a bunch of people seeking opportunities here now that travel restrictions have ended.”
Jiqing Chen, Mr Chen’s mother, promotes the city by telling her family’s story.
A wholesale shoe business she and her husband ran in 1999 has grown to a manufacturing company with three retail stores.
“We are a good example when Chinese people ask for more information about Dubai,” said Ms Chen, chairperson of the UAE Shanxi Chamber of Commerce.
“I always advertise Dubai.
“There is a lot of competition in China so people look at investment in Dubai.
“There is interest in the golden visa.
They will also come because their children can study in Dubai schools.”
She spoke of a rising interest among Chinese nationals to make UAE their base.
“My son got good offers from big banks and he selected Dubai,” Ms Chen said.
“Dubai feels like his home country, he understands Dubai.
“Like him, others will come.”
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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Manchester United v Club America
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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Donating your hair
• Your hair should be least 30 cms long, as some of the hair is lost during manufacturing of the wigs.
• Clean, dry hair in good condition (no split ends) from any gender, and of any natural colour, is required.
• Straight, wavy, curly, permed or chemically straightened is permitted.
• Dyed hair must be of a natural colour
KYLIAN MBAPPE 2016/17 STATS
Ligue 1: Appearances - 29, Goals - 15, Assists - 8
UCL: Appearances - 9, Goals - 6
French Cup: Appearances - 3, Goals - 3
France U19: Appearances - 5, Goals - 5, Assists - 1
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Specs
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Uefa Champions League last 16 draw
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur
Basel v Manchester City
Sevilla v Manchester United
Porto v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Paris Saint-Germain
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma
Chelsea v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Besiktas
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
THREE
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Results
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Nadhra, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeem, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
South Africa v India schedule
Tests: 1st Test Jan 5-9, Cape Town; 2nd Test Jan 13-17, Centurion; 3rd Test Jan 24-28, Johannesburg
ODIs: 1st ODI Feb 1, Durban; 2nd ODI Feb 4, Centurion; 3rd ODI Feb 7, Cape Town; 4th ODI Feb 10, Johannesburg; 5th ODI Feb 13, Port Elizabeth; 6th ODI Feb 16, Centurion
T20Is: 1st T20I Feb 18, Johannesburg; 2nd T20I Feb 21, Centurion; 3rd T20I Feb 24, Cape Town
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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