Eduardo Paes (2nd R), mayor of Rio de Janeiro, listens to a presentation during his visit to BYD’s headquarters in Pingshan District on Thursday. Liu Xudong
“If I could choose a model city in China for us to follow in Brazil, for Rio it would be Shenzhen,” Eduardo Paes, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, told Shenzhen Daily in an interview during his recent visit to Shenzhen.
This was Paes’s first visit to Shenzhen since the two cities became friendship cities. In August 2022, Shenzhen and Rio signed a Memorandum of Friendship Exchange and Cooperation, and Rio became the 90th city in Shenzhen’s network of sister and friendship cities.
Paes attended the Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) - China (Shenzhen) Economic and Trade Exchange Conference and visited Shenzhen enterprises including Huawei and BYD on Thursday.
‘Feels like home’
“I feel at home here. I have the same feeling for Shenzhen,” Paes said when he visited BYD on Thursday. The Rio mayor had worked for BYD for four years, which he described was an amazing experience.
“What I see here now, it’s completely different from three years ago and what I saw first time in 2017. It’s an amazing city, it’s an amazing place and a great example for us,” Paes said, adding that he feels that Shenzhen is getting bigger and more modern every time he comes to the city.
Paes said that he has such a close relation with Shenzhen that he has sent his son to live and work in Shenzhen for a while. His son, 18, is currently doing his internship at BYD and led the Rio delegation on a tour at the Shenzhen company while giving a presentation in Portuguese.
“I have a son and a daughter. The two people I love the most in the world, one of them is here. I know this is the place that is going to mean a lot to him. I trust a lot in BYD and Shenzhen, so much that I have my son here for a while doing this internship,” Paes said proudly and excitedly.
According to Paes, it was kind of a coincidence that the Rio delegation came to Shenzhen a week after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva paid a visit to China. But it was a good coincidence just like the clear signals President Lula sent to the world again.
“It is a great opportunity for us to show that this relationship is important and that it will deliver some concrete results to both countries,” Paes said.
‘SZ has a lot to teach’
According to Paes, Rio and Shenzhen share a lot of similarities and the role that the two cities play in each of their countries is a very similar one.
“If you think of the two countries, I would say that Beijing is Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. Shanghai is Sao Paulo, the financial center of Brazil. Shenzhen is Rio, the innovation city of Brazil, and they are cities that look towards sustainability and quality of life,” Paes said.
The Rio mayor believes that Rio has a lot to learn from Shenzhen. The friendship city relationship will further enhance exchanges and cooperation between the two cities.
“I think it’s a way of getting closer, getting more connected, see the will of the Shenzhen government to have Brazilian companies here and for the Shenzhen companies to see the will of Rio and Brazilian governments to have more relations with Chinese companies,” he said.
‘Living in the future’
“If I could get a definition of Shenzhen, it’s like we live in the future at present,” Paes said when he was asked to describe Shenzhen, a city that has been the fertile land for many innovation-driven enterprises.
“Every truly innovative company or every company that has to do with innovation, it seems that they were born in Shenzhen,” Paes said jokingly. “I don’t know if it’s something that you put in the water or in the air, it’s a city that’s based on innovation.”
Taking BYD as an example, Paes said it’s such a young and powerful company that focuses on R&D and innovations. “There is always a new technology or an example of products that are being delivered.”
He was also impressed that almost every big city in Brazil now has a BYD vehicle dealer. “It’s incredible to see what BYD has achieved in Brazil when you look at the solar panel market, the forklift market, the buses market, and now they are getting big in the EV markets.”