China firmly supports Tunisia in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions and opposes external interference in Tunisia's internal affairs, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

President Xi made the remarks while meeting with his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Saied, in the Saudi capital Riyadh.  

Xi noted that the cooperation between China and Tunisia has improved greatly in recent years. Overcoming the adverse impact of COVID-19, China has carried out a number of health, sports and human resources training projects in Tunisia, providing impetus to the country's economic and social development. 

China is willing to steadily advance cooperation between the two countries in the fields of healthcare, infrastructure and high technologies, further expand human resources and non-governmental exchanges, encourage Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Tunisia, and welcome Tunisia to continue promoting products in China, he added. 

Xi stressed that China believes Tunisia has the wisdom and ability to safeguard its national stability and development. 

China appreciates that Tunisia attaches great importance to the collective cooperation between China and Arab states as well as the cooperation between China and African countries, he said. 

President Saied congratulated Xi on the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of Communist Party of China. He said that under the current international situation, no country can develop on its own, so countries should respect each other, and solve the common problems facing the world through close cooperation. 

He added that more and more Tunisian young people are learning Chinese as they believe China will play a more critical role in the world, and said Tunisia is ready to work with China to elevate bilateral relations to a new and higher level.