The race among Gulf Arab states to become tech-driven, knowledge economies involves large bets on advanced technological platforms and digital applications. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and financial technology are viewed as promising pathways toward alleviating cost and budget pressures and supporting economic diversification. China represents a natural partner to help advance the Gulf’s technological ambitions. Facing slower growth at home, Chinese technology firms and major investment companies are seeking to expand beyond their domestic markets. Moreover, the Gulf region serves an integral commercial node linking Asia with African and European markets. This paper seeks to explain how Chinese capital and firms impact the development, adoption, and implementation of advanced technologies in Gulf Arab states. China’s role in major development projects, trade of goods and commodities, and tourism across the Gulf region has been the subject of numerous academic studies. Far fewer academic works examine the levers of Chinese influence over the Gulf’s softer commercial structures: developing telecommunications infrastructure, investing in Gulf-based technology startups, and establishing regional headquarters of Chinese technology firms. Using the United Arab Emirates as a case study, this paper argues that China’s growing involvement in the Gulf’s technology sphere goes beyond a “transactional” form of commercial engagement and instead reflects a longer-term strategy of aligning China’s expansionist policies with the Gulf’s economic visions and institutional structures. The political economy focus of this work entails an approach that is inherently interdisciplinary. The work relies heavily on a political science lens that emphasizes the interplay between institutional frameworks and firm behavior in order to explain development outcomes. Consequently, macro- and meso-levels of analysis illustrate the contours of Chinese involvement in the UAE’s technology sphere. To demonstrate this paper’s thesis, it draws heavily on qualitative and quantitative data collected during research visits to the United Arab Emirates as well as oral interviews with Emirati officials and business and technology editors from international media outlets. This paper adds a new scholarly dimension to two related fields: i) the international political economy of Gulf Arab states and ii) state-business relations in the Middle East. Insights and feedback related to this paper will inform the author’s ongoing book chapter project for the Routledge Handbook on China - Middle East Relations (early 2021). Future researchers interested in China-Gulf relations can also use this paper presentation and the forthcoming publication as a foundation to examine China’s technology-focused commercial activities in other Gulf Arab states.