Tunisian President Kais Saied shows a strong interest in EVs during his visit to BYD in Pingshan District on June 1. Photo by Lin Songtao

Tunisian President Kais Saied, during his less-than-10-hour whirlwind tour of Shenzhen on June 1, visited two local corporate champions — BYD and Huawei — to experience the vitality of Shenzhen as a technological innovation hub and seek opportunities for cooperation.

At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Saied paid a state visit to China from May 29 to June 1 and attended the opening ceremony of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, which was held in Beijing on May 30. This was Saied’s first trip to China since taking office in 2019, and Shenzhen was the last stop of his China visit. The Tunisian president is the fourth head of state to visit Shenzhen this year.

At BYD in Pingshan District, Saied watched a demonstration of the company’s vehicle tank-turn feature and learned about the company’s different car models and various technological innovations. The Tunisian president showed a strong interest in electric vehicles in the field of public transportation — from the battery performance, models, and service life of electric buses to their overseas applications.

He also personally experienced BYD’s electric buses and SkyShuttle, a rail transit system independently developed by BYD that is battery-powered and fully autonomous. Saied said public transportation is closely related to people’s well-being and is very important for Tunisia. “We hope to seek cooperation opportunities with BYD in this field.”

A BYD executive also expressed hopes of introducing the company’s commercial vehicles into the Tunisian market and consulted with Saied about local regulations and details such as seat settings. The executive said, “Today, we welcome Mr. President’s visit, which marks a new chapter for BYD’s new energy vehicles in the Tunisian market — especially our new energy buses. We look forward to introducing our best products to Tunisia.”

Saied also visited Huawei’s headquarters in Longgang District and its Songshan Lake Base in Dongguan City.