The Middle East Is Not a Trend, It Is a Rising Long-Term Force
The Middle East's grand narrative is not the frenzy of China-style mass entrepreneurship, but people from many countries converging on a shared opportunity; Chinese companies enter through efficiency, flexibility and customization, but cost-effectiveness is not the first choice — alignment with national strategy is.
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The Middle East is not a copy of China's entrepreneurship street
Li Li distinguishes the sense of convergence in the Middle East from China's 2014 entrepreneurship street: China's entrepreneurship street was an unprecedented sensation, with young people and university students throwing themselves into the entrepreneurial wave; the Middle East is people from different countries, different ages and different industries gathering around a shared opportunity, more like an international market. This judgment means that understanding the Middle East through the framework of China-style mass entrepreneurship will distort it — there it is not the shining fervor of young people, but a pragmatic gathering with more diverse identities, ages and industries.
— Li LiCentral SOEs gave up profits on infrastructure and bought trust
Chinese central and state-owned construction and infrastructure companies helped the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar build infrastructure, but Li Li learned in interviews that these companies did not earn rich profits from it — they made concessions, thereby winning very good reputations with some Middle Eastern governments and generating high trust in Chinese companies and partners locally. This mechanism explains why, when Chinese tech companies later entered the Middle East, they faced not only commercial competition but also a foundation of trust accumulated through infrastructure concessions.
— Li LiRegistering a company in Saudi is high-threshold and needs local guarantees
The entry threshold in Saudi Arabia is quite high: the cost of registering a company is relatively high, and if you want agency rights, you also need a local commercial guarantee. More fundamentally, Saudi Arabia's biggest market is still突击, and the core of the core is that you must align with Saudi Arabia's grand strategy, the 2030 plan, proposed by MBS Salman. So tech companies take the digital infrastructure route, and the core point is to help them do things that fit their national strategy. This explains why Chinese companies in the Middle East are not simply selling products, but embedding themselves in the other side's narrative and historical context.
— Li LiChinese companies are efficient and flexible, but cost-effectiveness is not the first choice
Li Li observed that Chinese companies in the Middle East are very efficient, excited and solid, able to fulfill customization requirements, relatively flexible, and relatively cost-effective in price. But the key turn is: because they are very rich, cost-effectiveness is not a first-choice priority. European and American companies came in early, and locals have feelings and trust toward them, but it is also very delicate. For Chinese companies to compete commercially with Europe and America, what they rely on is not low prices, but efficiency, flexibility and customization capability.
— Li LiA $40,000 order rolled into $10 million
A cybersecurity company suddenly received a Middle East order during the pandemic, $40,000, and the founder made an exception, sending two people to find tickets and take various connecting flights, painfully transiting to the UAE. The cost of one person beyond salary is 500,000 RMB a year, so the investment in these few people was higher than the order amount. But from $40,000 to $1 million, to five or six million dollars, this year probably $10 million, it was built up step by step. Li Li's conclusion is: do not miss any small order from the Middle East; order requests that come in must be taken up.
— Li LiLocal university students get paid; PhDs get over $30,000 a year
Li Li found that if you apply directly to a local university in the UAE, not as an exchange, they can pay you a salary, give you money. Master's students also get money, PhD students also get money, PhDs about $30,000+ a year. Abu Dhabi in that安城中的地方 has no tax. Behind this is their structural move to recruit young talent globally: from young elites to talent, to presidents, all are recruiting talent globally, and one president was poached from MIT, also a Chinese person.
— Li LiFrom a domestic big tech company to the Middle East, salary doubles
Li Li met some young people who went from a domestic big tech company to work in the Middle East; they might have studied in the US, returned to China and joined a big tech company. Asked how they felt, they were extremely happy, quite happy. The reason is they felt it was extremely competitive in China, 996 was very stressful, all kinds of competition, many people competing; the direct feeling there is salary doubled, work pressure halved, and there is still a lot of room for competition. Their whole state is relaxed, but full of expectation for the future, eyes shining.
— Li LiInvesting in India is micro; investing in the Middle East must start from macro
Li Li compared the difference in investment logic: investing in the Indian market does not look much at the whole country's strategy, does not understand from the macro level, just understands from the micro level whether the business is feasible, and the meso level is whether the industry is on the eve of an explosion. But now it is different; now you look from macro down, top-down clearly, then bottom-up how to expand that market. This shift means that investment judgment in the Middle East cannot rely only on business models; you must first understand national strategy and geopolitical patterns.
— Li LiIn their own words · checked verbatim
But because they are very rich, cost-effectiveness is not a first-choice priority.
但是因为他们很有钱 所以性价比 并不是一个第一位的首选
Li Li23:15
So do not miss any small order from the Middle East; order requests that come in must be taken up.
所以说不要错过 中东的任何一个小订单 发来的订单需求 一定要接上
Li Li30:24
I think it is a long-standing state, because it is a rising, unignorable force. It is opening up, they are reforming sharply, their economy is growing, and they are also very rich.
我认为它是一个长期存在的状态 因为它是一个正在上升 一个不可忽视的命运 它正在开放 他们锐意改革 他们的经济在增长 他们也很有钱
Li Li1:00:30
Figures
| Middle East research duration and number of interviewees | 16 days, three countries four cities, interviewed over 100 Chinese people | 1:03 |
| Saudi Arabia GDP per capita | $30,000+ | 20:14 |
| Qatar GDP per capita | $80,000+ | 20:14 |
| UAE GDP per capita | $40,000+ | 20:14 |
| Kuwait GDP per capita | $39,000 | 20:14 |
| Middle East employee non-salary cost | 500,000 RMB per year | 29:24 |
| Wenchao annual revenue | At least over 1 billion RMB | 33:24 |
| Wenchao gross margin | Over 30% | 33:24 |
Glossary
- PIF / Saudi Public Investment Fund
- Saudi Arabia's largest sovereign wealth fund, with estimated total assets approaching $800 billion.
- Z-Line / Saudi linear city
- A landmark building in Saudi Arabia's new city plan, with iconic significance.
- family sector
- A private room area for families in traditional Middle Eastern restaurants; women cannot sit with male friends in the main hall.
How to listen
Founders, investors and overseas heads at large companies focused on Middle East expansion and globalization, especially teams considering entering the Saudi or UAE markets.
The last five rapid-fire Q&As can be skipped; information density is low.