Oil-dependent economies in the Gulf are looking to Chinese tech firms to drive technological progress in the region. Contrary to the narrative that Beijing is imposing its “digital model” on Gulf states, Chinese firms have adapted their strategies to adhere to the local political and regulatory realities in Gulf nations.

Technoscientific cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia has blossomed in recent years. Mohammed Al-Sudairi explains how Riyadh’s collaboration with Beijing assists its pursuit of technoscientific self-strengthening.

China has sought to increase its partnership with media outlets in Türkiye in an effort to improve its public perception in the country. Çağdaş Üngör breaks down the Sino-Turkish media landscape and assesses its overall impact.

Saudi Arabia’s cooperation with China on technological and scientific innovation is on the rise—and it is Saudi priorities that are steering the relationship.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has followed a unique, locally focused strategy in Türkiye to adapt to the Turkish economic and political environment.

Turkey has few explicitly pro-China voices. In response, the Chinese regime has opted for soft power strategies that leverage Turkish political players and seek a synergy with local media actors.

Join Carnegie for a conversation about how local players have fared in three Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries—Algeria, Egypt, and Indonesia—in pushing Chinese technology firms to meet their developmental needs.

Developing countries looking to transform their digital economies often turn to foreign tech giants for technology upgrades and training for their own domestic tech workforce. Tin Hinane El Kadi explains why Egypt and Algeria chose Huawei and offers lessons for other developing countries negotiating with Chinese tech giants.

Algeria and Egypt pressed China’s telecom national champion Huawei for more value-added manufacturing and technology transfers. The company responded, but it ultimately improved its brand image without engaging in meaningful capacity building.

Chinese infrastructure investments in the developing world have become the norm for Beijing as it seeks to expand its influence. However, in Israel, China has embedded itself into Israeli media and Hebrew-language press to play up Israelis' perceptions of China in the public. Roie Yellinek explains the tactics China has used in Israeli media and whether or not it has worked.

To bolster their influence in Israel, Chinese players have leveraged local Hebrew language media to calibrate their messages for Israeli audiences.