Chinese Investments in the Special Economic Zones in the Gulf Region: New Structural Economics Perspective

The Gulf countries have shifted to a new development paradigm, pursuing economic diversification by constructing special economic zones (SEZs). By investing overseas, China has been involved in the development of SEZs in the Gulf region, especially since China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In this chapter, through the analytical framework of New Structural Economics (NSE), I examine three projects of Chinese investments in the SEZs in the Gulf region — China-Oman Industrial Park in Duqm, the petrochemical and chemical fibre integrated project in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries, and China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone. By analysing how the projects grow and how they affect the development of the investment recipient countries, I argue that the “hard” and “soft” infrastructure provided by the recipient countries and the comparative advantages of the recipient countries have motivated the projects to grow. The three projects demonstrate the potential to contribute to the development of infrastructure in the SEZs where the projects are located and have assisted the investment recipient countries in striving for economic diversification and sustainable development.

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Published in: Social Change and Transformation in the Gulf Region
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7796-1_31