The American billionaire Elon Musk arrived on Sunday, April 28, in Beijing, on an unannounced visit, where he will discuss with the Chinese authorities some aspects related to the field of high technology, according to a person from his entourage.
Chinese state media reported that Musk met with Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla’s development in China could be seen as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation.
“Honored to meet Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other for many years now, since the early days in Shanghai,” Musk posted on the social media platform X, while appearing in a picture with the premier.
Tesla reached an agreement with Chinese authorities for a factory in Shanghai, its first production facility outside the United States, in 2018.
The US electric vehicle maker released FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago, but has yet to make it available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite demand customers.
Musk said this month that Tesla could make FSD available to customers in China “very soon,” in response to a question on X.
Wedbush analysts called the surprise visit “a major moment for Tesla.”
“While the long-term valuation story at Tesla rests on FSD and autonomy, a key missing piece of that puzzle is for Tesla to make FSD available in China, which is now on the doorstep,” Wedbush said in a report sent by email.
Chinese automakers such as Xpeng have tried to gain an advantage over Tesla by releasing similar software.
As of 2021, Tesla has stored all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai, as required by Chinese regulators, and has not transferred it to the United States.
Musk wants to get approval to transfer data collected at home abroad to train algorithms for his self-driving technologies, the person said.
Musk’s visit to China, first reported by Reuters, was not publicly announced, and the person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, in its account of Musk’s meeting with Li, did not say whether the two discussed FSD or data.
Earlier in the day, a separate report by state radio said Li visited the Beijing auto show and commented on how China’s intelligent new energy vehicle (NEV) sector has won a leading position on market and that the country must work hard and maintain its advantages.
Musk also met with Ren Hongbin, a government official who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the organizer of the auto show, state media reported.
“It’s good to see that electric vehicles are making progress in China. All cars will be electric in the future,” Musk said in a video posted on social media by a user affiliated with state media.
Late on Sunday, a top Chinese auto association released a list of 76 car models it said it had tested and found compliant with China’s data security requirements, including the Model Y and Tesla’s Model 3.
Musk’s trip came just over a week after he canceled a planned visit to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing “very heavy Tesla obligations.”
The company said this month it would lay off 10 percent of its global workforce as it faces falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles led by Chinese brands.
US auto safety regulators said Friday they have opened an investigation into whether Tesla’s recall of more than 2 million vehicles in the United States, announced in December to install new Autopilot protection devices, was appropriate. following a series of accidents.
Tesla has sold more than 1.7 million cars in China since it entered the market a decade ago, and the Shanghai factory is its largest production facility in the world.
GM CEO Mary Barra made an unannounced visit to the auto show in the world’s largest auto market on Friday, according to two people familiar with her schedule. GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Also on Friday, Grace Tao, Tesla’s vice president in charge of external relations in China, published a comment on the social media account of the state-run People’s Daily, claiming that self-driving technologies would be the new growth engine for the EV industry.
Tao said Tesla is leading autonomous driving research and development with its “end-to-end neural network” technology and data collected from millions of cars on the road.
China’s complicated traffic conditions, with more pedestrians and cyclists than many other markets, provide multiple scenarios that are key to training self-driving algorithms at a faster pace, according to industry experts.
Musk said last week that Tesla will introduce new, cheaper models using its current electric vehicle platforms and production lines will offer a new “robotaxis” with self-driving technology.
He said on X this month that he will unveil the robotaxi on August 8.
Tesla shares have lost nearly a third of their value since the start of the year as concerns about the electric vehicle maker’s growth trajectory have grown.
Last week, Tesla reported its first drop in quarterly revenue since 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production and deliveries.
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