Dragon Mart, a gigantic Chinese shopping mall inaugurated last month in Dubai -- the Middle East's version of Hong Kong -- aspires to became the gateway for Chinese products into the regional market.
The shopping center, in the shape of a dragon, stretches 1.2km and has a surface area of 150,000m2, making it the largest Chinese commercial center outside China.
In the long corridors of the specialized sections of the Dragon Mart center, shops offer a wide selection of "Made in China" products, ranging from sewing needles to farm machinery machinery.
Some 1,200 Chinese vendors and employees work in the mall. After work, they retire to the Chinese quarter of the International City, built in the desert of the flourishing Gulf emirate.
Female assistants push trolleys down the aisles, offering to accompany shoppers in return for a small tip.
The project was launched in 2002 by the Chinese firm Chinamex Middle East Investment (ChinamexMart) and Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone authority.
The United Arab Emirates imported an equivalent of US$2.1 billion in 2002 from China, which represented only 9.3 percent of its total imports.
Presented as a "strategic cooperation" between the Chinese and Emirati governments, Dragon Mart hopes to help increase Chinese exports, not only to the Middle East, but also to Africa, Eastern Europe and central and south Asia.
"We have chosen Dubai for its geographic position, as well as its economic and political stability, infrastructure, and transparency of its laws," the vice president of ChinamexMart, Jian Cheng, told reporters.
"The `Made in China' [products] are in great demand. Our goal is to set up a center for Chinese trade in the Middle East to respond to this increasing demand," he said.
But contrary to the wishes of his founders, the center remains "a place for retail instead of wholesale," he said.
"We should give people a new impression of Chinese products. In the past, people thought that `Made in China' is a cheap product but not good quality. This idea is changing and we should help in changing it," he added.
So far, the Dragon Mart is not making a profit, said Cheng, while insisting that the focus should remain on the initial aim of increasing wholesales and accelerating publicity in the region.
But some traders in the center voiced disappointment.
"Business is not excellent and I am not very happy," said 32-year-old Yu Wang, who represents a textile company.
"I had expected profits to be ten-fold more than now, but I hope that business will improve, and I have the patience," he added, a year after his arrival in Dubai.
The austere decorations of lime-bleached walls and white-tiled floor, combined with the modest shops, represent a striking contrast to the exuberant luxury displayed in Dubai's shopping malls.
But Dragon Mart attracts middle-class shoppers of Arab and Asian origins with prices that are at least 25 percent lower than Dubai's rates.
"Those who come here know what they are looking for: Good quality at a competitive price," Jian said.
"We are not a tourist destination. People come here to buy, not for a promenade," he added.
Dubai aspires to establish itself as a regional business and leisure hub. It attracted 5.4 million visitors in 2004 and aims to attract 15 million a year by 2010.
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