BEIJING — The recent flare-up in Middle East tensions isn’t denting Chinese business optimism about opportunities in the region.
Chinese shipments to Dubai’s logistics hub have risen by 20% this month from a year ago, as locals stock up on batteries and daily necessities, according to estimates from Bear Huo, China general manager at FundPark, a fintech startup that lends money to small Chinese businesses selling overseas via internet platforms.
“Overall, Chinese merchants are relatively optimistic,” he said Monday in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation. That’s partly due to the relatively recent rise of the Middle East as a fast-growing market, he added.
Chinese companies have increasingly turned to the region in the last few years — whether to raise money from local investors or to tap a new market for electric cars — amid trade tensions with the United States. On the geopolitical front, Beijing helped Riyadh and Tehran restore diplomatic relations in 2023.
Huo’s view is that the Iran-Israel tensions will end relatively soon, given that even the U.S. strikes have targeted specific strategic sites, and as fighting isn’t spread out along a border as in the drawn-out conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
