EAST Hope Group is evaluating plans to invest US$10 billion in an industrial zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), joining other Chinese companies seeking a slice of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Chinese companies are increasingly seizing opportunities in the Gulf, expanding overseas in line with the investment policy.

Shanghai-based manufacturing giant East Hope is working with the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) to develop industries over 15 years in a three-phase plan, a statement from Kizad said late Sunday.

An alumina facility is planned in the first phase while a red mud research center and recycling project will be part of phase two. The final phase would bring large upstream and downstream facilities for the processing of nonferrous metals.

“This project will become the benchmarking project along the Belt and Road Initiative between the UAE and China,” East Hope chairman Yongxing Liu said.

East Hope is the latest to join some other Chinese firms in Abu Dhabi. Earlier this year, Roadbot broke ground on a new tire manufacturing plant at Kizad.

More than 15 Chinese companies have invested in Kizad, including five from Jiangsu Province.

China’s COSCO Shipping and Ports’ Abu Dhabi Terminal was opened last year at Khalifa Port, positioning Abu Dhabi as the regional hub for COSCO’s global network of 36 ports.(SD-Agencies)