Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Inc., said on Sunday that he was “very proud to meet [China’s] Premier Liang”. Musk made a surprise visit to China on Sunday. On Sunday, Musk posted a photo with Qiang and said, “We have known each other for many years, since the early days in Shanghai.”
Chinese state media reported that the Tesla CEO met Premier Li in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla’s development in China can be considered a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation, Reuters reported.
What happened during Musk, Li meeting?
During his visit, Musk was expected to discuss the rollout of full self-driving warranty and permission to transfer data overseas. The US electric vehicle maker introduced Full Self-Driving, or FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot guide, four years ago. But Tesla has not made it available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customers urging it to do so.
The company inked a deal with Chinese authorities in 2018 for a unit in Shanghai, which would be its first outside the US. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, in its report of Musk’s meeting, did not say whether the two discussed FSD, or data.
Musk also met government official Ren Hongbin, who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, organisers of the Beijing auto show, state media reported. Musk said in a video posted on social media by a user linked to state media, “It’s good to see the progress of electric cars in China. In the future, all cars will be electric.” Will Tesla’s FSD come to China soon? Earlier this month, Musk said in response to a question on social media platform X that Tesla could make FSD available to customers in China “very soon”.
Rival Chinese automakers such as Xpeng are trying to gain an edge on the model by making similar offers. Musk wants to transfer data integrated in the country abroad to train its autonomous driving equipment, the person said. Tesla has integrated its Chinese fleet since 2021 and moved all data to Shanghai as required by Chinese regulators and has not transferred any data back to the United States. Musk’s India visit cancelled
Honored to meet with Premier Li Qiang.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2024
We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days. pic.twitter.com/JCnv6MbZ6W
Elon Musk cancelled his India trip
Elon Musk’s visit came just a week after he cancelled his dedicated trip to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had then cited “Tesla’s very heavy burden”. The company said this month that it would lay off 10 per cent of its global workforce as it grapples with a drop in sales and rising prices for EVs led by Chinese products. US auto safety regulators said on Friday they have launched an investigation into whether Tesla’s announcement in December to recall more than 2 million Teslas in the US to impose new automobile safety measures was enough after a series of disappointing reports.
