China Mall records over 1-mn shoppers in 1Q 2019

One million people visited Ajman’s China Mall, Gulf Chinese Trading Corporation, during the first quarter of 2019, and the mall continues to thrive with a 90% occupancy rate. Of the visitors, 10% were tourists, with the remainder coming from Ajman and the neighbouring Emirates.

Affordable prices, choice of products and a convenient shopping experience all contributed to make the China Mall, which was established in 2010, a popular choice for discerning shoppers from near and far.

“The knock-on effect of the mall’s prosperity is good news for the Emirate of Ajman and shows that the endeavours made by Ajman Free Zone to entice and maintain trade, as well as larger UAE government objectives to create and maintain healthy links with China are working very well indeed, building on that we are planning on further developing the China Mall project,” stated Fatma Salem, acting director general of Ajman Free Zone.

Ajman’s China Mall currently boasts 1,000 trading enterprises, accommodated within a 3.01 million sqft plot, which also includes warehousing and logistics. Currently the daily footfall is 10,000, with this increasing to 20,000 at the weekend. The retail offering includes light industrial products and trading and tertiary industry, which mainly covers textiles, sanitaryware, building materials, garments, furniture, home appliances and a variety of small commodities.

The UAE’s bi-lateral trading relationship with China has helped in underpinning the continuing success of the China Mall. Trade between the UAE and China hit $53 billion last year, and this is forecast to double over the next decade. Trade activity between the two countries is very buoyant, and an important contributor to China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative – a $900 billion policy by the Chinese government to build on ancient trade routes from China through central Asia by rail and to Africa and beyond by sea.