Turning Middle East Compliance Requirements into a Starting Point for Chinese Sellers Entering the Market

[Ebrun Original] On September 24, during the round-table dialogue at the 'Silk Road E-commerce Day' launch ceremony and 'Silk Road E-commerce' resource matching conference of the Fifth Global Digital Trade Expo, Chen Muhan, Head of noon's China Business, introduced the platform's diversified paths to help Chinese industrial belts enter the Middle East market, and analyzed regulatory requirements regarding capital, logistics, commercial flow, and consumer rights protection.

Chen Muhan stated that companies expanding into the Middle East not only need sales channels but also need to understand local currency settlement, customs clearance, tariffs, and consumer protection rules before entering the market. He expressed his hope to leverage the 'Silk Road E-commerce' cooperation mechanism to transform complex compliance requirements into a starting point for sellers to understand and enter the market.

This article is compiled from the on-site transcript of the round-table discussion, with minor edits without altering the original intent.

The following are Chen Muhan's insights:

01

Providing diversified channels for Chinese industrial belts to enter the Middle East

noon was established in 2017, jointly invested by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Emaar Group. We not only position ourselves as an e-commerce platform but also aim to be a diversified gateway for Chinese industrial belts and Chinese sellers to enter the Middle East market.

At the e-commerce level, we support merchants in joining the platform and explore cooperation with qualified companies through direct procurement in the second half of the year. For industrial belt companies that have not yet entered the Middle East market, as long as their products are competitive and the industry is mature, they have the opportunity to enter the local market more directly through the platform's direct sourcing model. Additionally, we can connect offline retail resources to provide more market options for brands. noon has established its China headquarters in Zhejiang to better serve Chinese sellers and stay closer to industrial belts.

02

Differences in Middle East market rules are reflected in capital, logistics, and commercial flow

From an operational perspective, compliance requirements in the Middle East market can be understood from several aspects: capital, logistics, commercial flow, and consumer rights protection. In terms of capital, local requirements for settlement security and local currency settlement mechanisms are relatively high. Over the past year, we have also cooperated with LianLian Digital in KYC review and local currency settlement to improve the capital experience for Chinese sellers.

In logistics, there are significant differences between countries. Dubai, relying on transit ports and free trade zones, has relatively convenient goods flow; Saudi Arabia has more specific and stricter requirements for customs clearance and tariffs. Commercial flow is closely related to consumer rights protection. The Middle East market has strong spending power and imposes strong constraints on consumer rights, so both platforms and sellers need to understand and comply in advance.

03

Understand the rules first, then seek market opportunities

We hope to use the 'Silk Road E-commerce' cooperation mechanism to enable Chinese sellers to understand local consumer protection and market compliance rules before entering the Middle East. Rules should not just be issues to address after entering the market; they should be the starting point for companies to formulate market strategies.

The Middle East market also has different religious and cultural backgrounds. Only when companies understand these backgrounds and the rules of capital, logistics, and commercial flow can they transform seemingly complex barriers into the ability to understand the market and serve consumers, and further find long-term development opportunities.

This article was first published on the official website of Ebrun.