China sells every year for several hundred billion dollars to the Middle East, but the exporting machine is now seriously jammed due to the war, and as no concrete way out of the conflict is in sight. In this factory in Canton, where 300 workers manufacture beds and mattresses every day, the goods no longer leave.
The Middle Eastern countries, such as Qatar and Kuwait, are major customers, but with the war, orders have stopped, regrets one of the sales managers at the factory. “Our customers over there are taking a wait-and-see attitude, the impact will be quickly visible for our factory. For example, at the furniture fair in Canton right now, our Middle Eastern customers are absent, normally they were numerous.”
About a hundred kilometers away, at this logistics company in Shenzhen, the boss is trying to find solutions to ship the goods, but in vain. “Maritime connections between China and the Middle East are currently suspended. For now, we can only ask factories to postpone their shipments. We currently have between 100 and 200 containers waiting to leave.”
Products made in China are particularly affected by the war. The port of Jebel Ali in Dubai is a hub for Chinese products. More than 15 million tons of goods pass through there every year before heading to Africa or Europe. Logistics has become a real headache. “I have four containers that were able to reach the port of Dubai just before the war, it has been over ten days since the boat is at the dock,” laments the boss.
The war directly threatens the major Chinese project of the new Silk Roads, of which the Middle East is a key piece, with 380 billion dollars of Chinese exports every year.
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