When China held its One Belt, One Road summit in Beijing earlier this month it used the event as an opportunity not only to announce lavish new financing plans, but also to allay regional countries’ concerns that the global trade strategy would benefit China at their expense.
Those misgivings have not troubled Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chief executive of DP World. He sees China’s massive reimagining of ancient Silk Road trade routes as a business opportunity that could help ameliorate the effects of slowing global economic growth. “The Chinese horizon is changing,” says Mr bin Sulayem, one of Dubai’s most senior officials.
DP World has, for example, just seen off the first direct freight train from the UK to China. The train left in April on its three-week journey from DP World’s London Gateway, at the mouth of the river Thames, to Yiwu in eastern China, laden with British products ranging from whisky to pharmaceuticals.