In this undated file photo, a visitor uses his mobile phone while passing by the stand of Huawei during an industry expo in Beijing. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

SHENZHEN – China’s Huawei Technologies has opened a cloud data center in the Saudi capital Riyadh in a bid to grow its online service offerings in the Middle East and North Africa, the tech giant said on Monday.

The cloud data center in Riyadh, Huawei's 30th worldwide, will support government services for the Saudi kingdom and allow for AI applications and language models in Arabic, a company official told a briefing.

The implementation of Huawei cloud is not just about us, but is a bridge that will bring other Chinese companies to Saudi Arabia.

Steven Yi, regional president of Huawei Technologies

"The implementation of Huawei cloud is not just about us, but is a bridge that will bring other Chinese companies to Saudi Arabia," said Steven Yi, the company's regional president.

The step would contribute to the development of the country's digital economy, he said, adding that Huawei opened its regional headquarters in the Saudi capital this year.

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Huawei ranked fifth in the global cloud services market in the first quarter, with a market share of 2.4 percent, according to research consultancy Canalys.

In February, Huawei said it would invest $400 million in the Saudi Arabia cloud region over the next five years.