DragonMart

Dragon Mart sits on Al Awir Road in the International City development of Dubai, opened in 2004 as a wholesale and retail trade hub for Chinese-manufactured goods. Dubai Holding Asset Management owns and operates the 168,000-sqm complex across two phases: Dragon Mart 1 with approximately 2,700 trading units and Dragon Mart 2, completed in 2015, with approximately 1,500 additional units. The property is operated as part of the unified Dubai Retail brand platform alongside Ibn Battuta Mall, Palm Jumeirah Mall, and The Outlet Village under Dubai Holding’s 40+ property retail portfolio.

The format is a wholesale and retail trade hub, not a leisure shopping centre. Units trade at both B2B wholesale and consumer retail levels across electronics, homeware, fashion, construction materials, furniture, toys, hardware, and industrial equipment manufactured in China. The buyer profile includes interior designers, construction contractors, hotel procurement managers, small business owners, and individual consumers across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and the broader Middle East and African trade corridor. The combination of Chinese manufacturing price points, the breadth of categories, and the proximity to Dubai’s port and road logistics infrastructure makes Dragon Mart the most efficient sourcing point for Chinese goods in the Gulf region.

The International City catchment, one of Dubai’s highest-density residential developments housing primarily South Asian and East Asian expatriates, provides a local consumer base. The regional trade catchment extends across the Gulf and North Africa, with buyers arriving specifically to source products unavailable or significantly more expensive through local distributors in their home markets. Dedicated parking for approximately 10,000 vehicles accommodates the trade buyer volume.

Dubai Holding manages Dragon Mart as a trade infrastructure asset rather than a consumer retail destination, and the commercial logic is appropriately distinct: occupancy and rental rates are driven by trade volume, wholesale buyer traffic, and China-to-Middle East supply chain demand rather than by footfall metrics, dwell time, or retail productivity per square metre. Its inclusion in the Dubai Retail brand portfolio reflects Dubai Holding’s approach to retail as an asset class spanning consumer leisure, specialist trade, and transit-adjacent formats under a unified management structure.