Source: AFP
Tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was in China for talks on Sunday, making his second trip in less than a year to the world’s biggest electric vehicle market.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV said Musk — one of the world’s richest men — had a meeting with a top trade official, posting a photo of X’s owner at Beijing’s grand state-run Diaoyutai guesthouse.
Musk has extensive business interests in China and his most recent visit was in June last year.
Tesla did not respond to AFP requests for confirmation of Musk’s visit, nor did it share its itinerary for the trip.
“At the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Tesla (US) CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing this afternoon,” CCTV reported.
State media reported that Musk met with Ren Hongbin, the head of the trade council, “to discuss the next steps of cooperation and other issues.”
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The mercury tycoon is a controversial figure in the West, but in China, Tesla’s electric vehicles have become a staple of middle-class urban life.
Having once derided Chinese EVs, Musk this year described them as “the most competitive car company in the world.”
“It’s good to see electric vehicles making progress in China,” he was quoted as saying by state media on Sunday.
“All cars will be electric in the future.”
But Musk’s company itself has run into trouble in the world’s second-largest economy: In January, Tesla recalled more than 1.6 million electric vehicles in China to fix steering software.
Its arrival in China coincides with an intense price war between companies desperate to move into the fiercely competitive EV market.
China’s local auto giant BYD — “Build Your Dreams” — beat Tesla in the fourth quarter of last year to become the world’s top selling EV.
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Tesla reclaimed that title in the first quarter of this year, but BYD remains firmly on top in its home market.
His visit also comes as Beijing hosts a massive auto show, which has held press events since Thursday and opened to the public over the weekend.
“Tesla’s Last Hope”
Comments under posts about Musk’s arrival on social networking site Weibo were rife with speculation that the celebrity mogul would attend Auto China while in Beijing.
One user suggested Musk’s visit was motivated by a desire to test drive an SU7, the first car model launched earlier this year by Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi.
Xiaomi’s entry into the competitive EV field appears to be off to a positive start, with CEO Lei Jun saying this month that pre-orders exceeded expectations by three to five times.
Other commentators responded to reports that Musk’s trip was intended to give him an opportunity to speak with Chinese officials about the possibility of bringing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology to the local market.
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“FSD is Tesla’s last hope to save its domestic sales,” said one Weibo user.
Musk’s interests in China have long raised eyebrows in Washington, with President Joe Biden saying in November 2022 that his ties to foreign countries were “worthy” of scrutiny.
The tycoon has also courted controversy by proposing that the self-ruled island of Taiwan become part of China — a stance welcomed by Chinese officials but deeply angered by Taipei.
Source: AFP