China Tech Companies Going Gangbusters In The Gulf

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BYD, the dominant player amongst Chinese EV makers, demanded its suppliers cut prices by 10% in 2025, illustrating how deeply the price war has compressed margins across the entire supply chain. The consolidation analysts have long predicted - a return to normal pricing after smaller competitors are squeezed out - has not happened.

The same story applies to the food delivery sector. Meituan, China's dominant delivery platform, faces intensifying competition from the two other e-commerce platforms JD and Douyin as a so-called food delivery war has driven down commission rates and delivery fees across the industry.

Meituan's response has been to expand overseas through its international brand Keeta, which launched in Saudi Arabia in September 2024 and became the kingdom's third-largest food delivery platform within four months.

Just as WeRide and Geely launched the first robotaxis in Dubai, Keeta Drone obtained the UAE's first commercial beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone delivery license from Dubai's Civil Aviation Authority in December 2024.

Within a year, a Chinese delivery company went from having no presence in the Gulf to operating drone deliveries in Dubai and commanding significant market share in Riyadh. Keeta's market entry strategy in the Gulf, similar to that of EVs in China, has been to drive down prices through aggressive vouchers and waived delivery fees, capturing market share through low or negative margins.

Though it has stopped delivering a competitive edge at home, the same strategy still works overseas. The Gulf has become a preferred destination because it offers what China's saturated market does not: regulatory openness to new technologies, government partners eager to co-invest in smart-city infrastructure, and a first-mover advantage in markets where American and European competitors have been slow to enter.

Beyond the need to expand into new overseas markets, the Gulf also presents structural appeals for Chinese tech companies. Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority has set a target of 25% autonomous journeys by 2030, a goal that is reinforced by Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which treats technological modernization as a national priority.

Together, these policies give Chinese firms a government-backed runway that would be far harder to secure in the US or Europe. With no other Western autonomous driving company currently operating commercially in the Gulf, Chinese companies have established themselves as the default autonomous mobility providers.

The momentum is showing in the numbers. China's automotive market share in Arab Gulf countries rose from 2% in 2019 to around 15% in 2025. Of the 8.32 million cars shipped overseas by Chinese automakers in 2025, 1.39 million, roughly one-sixth of the total, went to Gulf countries.

Chinese brands are pairing high-quality products with aggressive new market entry, and it is paying off: The Gulf is absorbing domestic overcapacity while Chinese technology companies build global brands.