Supporting Chinese clients with legal matters in the UAE

Rahman & Company advises on UAE legal matters. Chinese clients typically ask us about setting up free zone or mainland entities, trade, distribution and logistics contracts, construction and project agreements, payment disputes with UAE buyers or contractors, and property purchases. We work in English and Arabic, and arrange translation where Chinese-language documents are involved. Meetings are available at our UAE offices or remotely. We pay particular attention to contract wording, because many China–UAE disputes turn on what the documents actually say.

China and the UAE

China is one of the UAE’s largest trading partners, and the UAE acts as a major re-export and logistics hub for Chinese goods heading to the Gulf, Africa and South Asia. Chinese trading companies have long clustered around Dubai’s wholesale markets, including DragonMart, and Chinese manufacturers, contractors, technology firms and logistics groups operate across the UAE’s free zones and ports. The two countries have mutual visa exemption for ordinary passport holders, which has made business travel straightforward.

Legal frameworks have developed with the trade. China and the UAE have a bilateral treaty on judicial assistance in civil and commercial matters, and both are parties to the New York Convention, which matters when a dispute clause points to arbitration. In practice, many disputes between Chinese and UAE parties come down to the paperwork: purchase orders with inconsistent terms, quality claims without inspection evidence, or guarantees that were never properly given. Clear contracts in a language both sides understand, with a realistic dispute clause, prevent many of these problems.