On November 1, 1984, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established diplomatic relations. In January 2012, China and the UAE established a strategic partnership. In July 2018, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the UAE, and the two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership.

In addition to the above visit, visits from the Chinese side to the UAE in recent years mainly include: Premier of the State Council Li Qiang (September 2024), President Xi Jinping's special representative, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier of the State Council Ding Xuexiang (December 2023), Vice President Wang Qishan (October 2018), Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Minister Wang Yi ( March 2021), among others. Visits to China from the UAE side mainly include: President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (August 2009, March 2012, December 2015, July 2019, February 2022, May 2024), Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (April 2019), Speaker of the Federal National Council Saqr Ghobash (September 2023), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (who has visited China 12 times), among others.

Practical cooperation between the two countries has yielded fruitful results. The UAE is China's largest export market and second largest trading partner in the Middle East. In 2024, the trade volume between China and the UAE reached USD 101.838 billion, of which China's exports amounted to USD 65.593 billion and imports totaled USD 36.245 billion. China mainly exports mechanical and electrical products, high and new technologies, textiles and apparel, and mainly imports crude oil, and petrochemical products, among others. The UAE is China's sixth largest source of crude oil imports, and in 2024, China imported 35.5353 million tons of crude oil from the UAE.

The two countries have active cultural and people-to-people exchanges. In April 2017, China participated in the 27th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair as the Guest of Honor.During the event, the book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China was published in Gulf countries for the first time. The year 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the UAE, and China participated in activities related to the Abu Dhabi Festival 2024 (throughout the year) as the Guest of Honor.

China and the UAE have jointly promoted the "Hundred Schools Project" of Chinese language education in the UAE, which has hitherto offered Chinese language courses in 171 public schools in the UAE.

In June 2004, the UAE became an approved destination for Chinese tourists. In December 2017, China and the UAE reached a comprehensive mutual visa exemption arrangement, which took effect on January 16, 2018, making the UAE the first country in the Middle East to achieve comprehensive mutual visa exemption with China.