Source: AFP
Tech billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk boarded a plane leaving Beijing on Monday, an AFP reporter said, after a visit that saw his company win a key data security license from Chinese authorities.
Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday for his second trip to China in less than a year, meeting top executives including Premier Li Qiang as he worked to boost his company’s fortunes in the world’s biggest electric car market.
On the same day, locally produced Tesla models were listed among the electric vehicles that meet China’s data security requirements, clearing a key regulatory hurdle.
The tycoon boarded his private jet at the capital’s Beijing airport just before 1:00 p.m. (05:00 GMT), with the Chinese government-backed Utrip flight tracking app saying the plane was bound for Anchorage, Alaska.
The US electric car giant also appeared to be nearing government approval to use its self-driving technology in China, partnering with tech titan Baidu for maps and navigation features, Bloomberg reported.
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Despite intensifying competition from domestic companies such as BYD, Teslas remain among the best-selling electric vehicles in China, but are trying to boost sales with features such as “Full Self Driving” (FSD), which must comply with strict data and privacy laws.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said it is testing vehicles from November 2023 with a national computer security regulator on how data is collected and processed, including personal information and records of people outside the car.
“Among them, 76 models from six companies (BYD, Li Auto, Lotus, Hozon Auto, Tesla and NIO) meet the four compliance requirements for automotive data security,” CAAM said in a statement.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y, produced at its giant factory in Shanghai, were on the list.
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The company’s advanced assisted driving features don’t make its cars fully autonomous, and Tesla says its Autopilot and FSD features are meant to be used under driver supervision.
It sells FSD for $8,000 in the United States or for a monthly subscription of $99.
Tesla did not immediately respond to AFP’s questions about FSD in China and the reported partnership with Baidu.
Earlier this month, in response to a question on social networking platform X, Musk said that FSD availability in China “may be possible very soon.”
Source: AFP