Tesla boss Elon Musk traveled to China on Sunday for a surprise visit. In Beijing he met Prime Minister Li Qiang, among others. The latter called Tesla’s development in China a positive example for economic and trade relations with the US, state television channel CCTV reported. Musk, in turn, praised the Tesla factory in the economic metropolis of Shanghai.
The Shanghai factory stands out within the group because of the hard work and vast knowledge of the team in China, Musk said. The Tesla boss previously said that he was very happy with the rise of electric cars in the People’s Republic. In the future, all vehicles will probably be electrically powered.
According to an insider, Musk wants to meet several senior government officials. This concerns software for self-driving cars and permission to send data abroad. The American electric car pioneer introduced the associated software four years ago. However, it is not yet available in China, although customers are asking for it.
Self-driving cars are coming “very soon,” Musk said
Musk said earlier this month that Tesla could make the software available to customers in China “very soon.” Chinese providers are currently trying to take advantage of the situation and lure customers with similar software. Tesla has retained all data collected in China since 2021 in the country in accordance with local regulatory authorities’ requirements. According to the company, they were not sent to the US, where Tesla is headquartered.
The company declined to comment on the trip. According to state media in China, Musk will meet, among others, Ren Hongbin, who is responsible for international trade within the government.
Tesla recently announced that it wants to relinquish ten percent of its global workforce. The American group is suffering from declining sales and a price war unleashed by Chinese electric car manufacturers. In China, Tesla has sold more than 1.7 million vehicles since it launched a decade ago. The factory in the economic metropolis of Shanghai is the group’s largest in the world.
The major car fair currently runs until May 4 in the capital Beijing. Tesla is not represented there, it was last in 2021. According to the state radio in China, Li has just visited the fair. There he said his country had to work hard to defend the gains it had made in the e-car industry.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
