On October 14, the 'Dubai Business Forum – China', held by Dubai Chambers, was conducted in Shenzhen, bringing together entrepreneurs, industry leaders and senior government representatives from China and Dubai to exchange views on the business environment, policy trends and market opportunities.

Rita Huang, Founder and CEO of iMile, was invited to attend and take part in a fireside chat titled "From Dubai to the World: iMile's Last Mile and Global Leap."

iMile is headquartered in Dubai, and throughout the forum, Huang made one thing clear: for iMile, Dubai is both the starting point and the foundation of all development.

Dubai Is Where We Started—and What Gives Us the Confidence to Go Further

"I'm very proud to say that we chose to start from Dubai."

For Rita, Dubai provides iMile three things that mattered most:

A business-friendly environment

"You can see the Dubai government working hard to support all businesses," Rita said. Setting up a company in Dubai is straightforward, being a foreigner doesn't mean facing extra hurdles. "In Dubai, you don't feel like a foreigner, because everyone here is a foreigner. You feel the inclusiveness, the energy and the diversity."

Global talent within reach

Dubai is the home to people from all around the world. In iMile's early days, its Dubai team already included employees of 40 to 50 different nationalities, working together with mutual respect and a shared set of rules.

When iMile later expanded into far-flung markets such as Latin America and Europe, the first people to pioneer were often those same diverse talents from Dubai. "If we had tried to find that kind of talent in China, it would have been very difficult. But in Dubai, we could find them easily."

A truly global outlook

"Any company that builds a footprint in Dubai naturally develops a global perspective. When my team and I sit in Dubai, we're always looking at the global business," Rita said. For iMile, Dubai is both a hub and a window.

2017: A Lesson in Localization

Rita founded iMile in Dubai in 2017. Before that, she spent a decade working overseas at Huawei and Alibaba, and settled in Dubai in 2014.

At the time, Amazon was about to acquire Souq, Noon had just been founded, and E-commerce in the Middle East was heating up fast. "As a Chinese person, I knew how good the last-mile experience was in China, and I could see the gap in Dubai. As a woman from the tech industry, I knew there was room for improvement."

The early days were not smooth. It was Rita's first time as a startup founder and her first time in logistics. The team's first instinct was to transplant China's mature system directly to Dubai, buying the system from China and bringing in Chinese experts to implement it.

"But the system just wouldn't run. It worked perfectly in China, but in Dubai, it simply didn't work."

That experience taught the team an important lesson: China's experience is valuable, but it must be deeply integrated with the local market. Over the following decade, iMile has focused on doing exactly that, connecting China's best industry expertise with local markets.

"Dubai Is Our Best Testing Market"

Speaking about opportunities for China-Dubai cooperation in e-commerce logistics, Rita noted that China has enormous strengths in capability, technology, talent and industry expertise, while E-commerce penetration in the Middle East is rising rapidly.

"Bringing that expertise and best practices to the Middle East, and even to Europe, Africa and Latin America, I truly believe Dubai is our best testing market."

She also described Dubai as a bridge connecting China and the world, "a window between China and the West." Rooted in Dubai and drawing on the experience, connections and resources iMile has built in China, the company aims to become a different kind of digital global express company. "I see a great deal of possibility and advantage here."

Looking Ahead: Embracing Physical AI

Looking to the next five years, Rita said AI, especially physical AI, is deeply reshaping the logistics industry.

"Some physical AI companies will try to change our industry. But as a tech company like iMile, we will actively embrace all physical AI."

iMile has already set up a dedicated physical AI team, tested autonomous delivery vehicles, and piloted robotic sorting equipment in its sorting centers. In her view, embracing physical AI will deliver higher efficiency, better cost structures and a better customer experience.

On organizational culture, iMile carries the same inclusive DNA it inherited from Dubai: "We don't build a specific culture for Chinese employees and another for local employees. We build an international and universal culture—transparent and easygoing."

From its start in Dubai in 2017 to bringing Chinese expertise to the Middle East, Latin America and beyond, iMile's rapid growth is a reflection of how deeply China and Dubai are integrating.

In 1990, China was Dubai's sixth-largest trading partner, with non-oil trade worth AED 2.1 billion. By 2025, that figure had reached AED 363.5 billion—a 172-fold increase in 35 years—making China Dubai's largest trading partner in the world.

That 172-fold growth is a scorecard for China-Dubai cooperation. Behind it, companies like iMile, rooted in Dubai and connecting China with the world, are still writing the next chapter.