Weaker Renminbi not to influence Gulf Arab-China economic ties: experts

The depreciation of Renminbi, or Chinese yuan, won't weigh on the economic engagement between the Gulf Arab countries and China, experts told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Gary Dugan, Chief Investment Officer of Wealth Management at Dubai's biggest bank Emirates NBD, said in an email that the lender saw the slide in Renminbi "as a net positive for trade between the two partners."

In the first six months of 2016, the trade between China and Dubai reached 21.52 billion U.S. dollars, Dubai Media Office reported.

"The lower yuan spurs Chinese exports, also to the Gulf region," said Brian Pearce, Chief Economist at the International Air Transport Association.

Trade between the United Arab Emirates and China is expected to hit 60 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2016, up from 54.8 billion dollars in 2014, according to the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development.

The first Renminbi clearing hub in the Middle East was established in Qatar in April 2015. The second will be set up in the UAE according to an agreement between the two countries in Dec. 2015.

On tourism, Pearce said China remains an outbound market despite the weaker yuan and the fact that most of the Gulf Arab states peg their currencies to U.S. dollars.

"The weaker yuan decreases the purchasing power for Chinese travelers to the region. It is not healthy for the region of course, but I don't think that is a main driver," he said. Enditem