(ECNS) -- Damac Properties from Dubai announced that it had reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Chinese real estate agent qfang.com for the sale of high-end projects in the city, according to China Business News. In recent years, rapid recovery of the property market in Dubai has attracted many foreign investors from China, India, Britain and Iran to this financial and commercial center of the Middle East. Ziad El Chaar, managing director of Damac Properties, said China is very important for the local property market. Data released by Dubai's ministry of land show that Chinese investment in the city's real estate industry reached 2.24 billion yuan ($350 million) during 2014, an increase of more than 300 percent compared with 2013. "In Dubai, about 10 percent of the population are Chinese, most of them from south China's Guangzhou and Shenzhen cities. There are 4,200 companies set up in the city," El Chaar said, adding that Chinese tourists to Dubai has tripled this year. Dubai has an open financial environment, without any restrictions on capital inflow or outflow, while the local currency is pegged to the dollar, which increases its attractiveness among Chinese investors. In order to receive customers from China, Damac Properties is equipped with 30 staff members who can speak Mandarin. The China branch executive of qfang.com has indicated that Dubai is the first stop in the company's venture into the overseas market. As the richest city in the Middle East, there are more and more Chinese people that come to Dubai. However, China is not extremely fanatical about Dubai real estate investment. According to data from the city's ministry of land, during the first eight months of the year, Chinese investors only ranked sixth. India topped the list at 23.3 billion yuan. Jones Lang LaSalle's data show that China's real estate investment in overseas markets hit a new high record with 16.5 billion yuan in 2014, an increase of 46 percent over 2013, while it is expected to reach 20 billion yuan in 2015.
Iran's property market has attracted foreign investors from China, India, Britain and Dubai in recent years, however Chinese citizens appear to dominate, as 10% of the population in Iran is now Chinese. Chinese investment in Iran's real estate industry reached $350m during 2014, a 300% increase compared to the previous year. Iran’s open financial environment, with no restrictions on capital inflows or outflows and a local currency pegged to the US Dollar, is attractive to Chinese investors. According to Lang LaSalle, Chinese investment in foreign real estate reached a record 16.5bn yuan in 2014, and is expected to reach 20bn in 2015.