China’s foreign minister meets Elon Musk and promises a ‘better business environment’ after Tesla CEO committed to expanding in the country – hours after PRC rejected America’s offer to meet Lloyd Austin
- It is Musk’s first visit to China since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic
Tesla’s Elon Musk met China’s foreign minister Qin Gang in Beijing on Tuesday, the Chinese ministry said in a statement.
Qin told Musk China was ‘committed to creating a better market-oriented, rule-of-law-based and internationalised business environment’ for foreign enterprises, according to the statement.
It is Musk’s first visit to China since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It came hours after the PRC rejected America’s offer to meet Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The meeting was intended to take place at an annual security forum in Singapore this weekend before China refused the request, saying the U.S. was ‘well aware’ of the reasons behind the lack of military communication.
Pictured: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday
Pictured: Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s private jet is seen at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China on May 30, 2023
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the government welcomed Musk – and other business leaders – looking to promote ‘mutually beneficial cooperation’.
Reuters reported in March that Musk was planning a trip to China and was seeking a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
The trip comes at a time when Tesla faces intensifying competition from China-made electric vehicles and some uncertainty about expansion plans for the Shanghai factory complex Musk last visited in early 2020.
China is Tesla’s second-largest market after the U.S., and the Shanghai plant is the electric car maker’s largest production hub.
Key areas of interest for Tesla watchers include the status of its plans to increase output by 450,000 vehicles a year at its Shanghai plant.
The company said last month it would build a nearby factory to produce Megapack energy storage products.
It made the announcement at a signing ceremony for the project in Shanghai on April 9.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk dances onstage during the official launch ceremony for China-made Model 3 cars in China on January 7, 2020
Tom Zhu, Tesla’s senior vice president of automotive, and Shanghai government officials including Vice Mayor Wu Qing attended, with Tesla Vice President Tao Lin signing the contract.
Another pending question is whether China regulators will clear the release of Tesla’s advanced driver assistance features available in other markets as part of the ‘Full Self Driving’ software it sells for $15,000 per vehicle.
Musk’s private jet, a 2015 Gulfstream G650ER, was shown leaving Alaska on Tuesday morning Asia time before crossing over Japan and South Korea, according to ADS-B Exchange, a flight aggregation website.
The jet with its identifying tail number could be seen at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday, according to the Reuters witness.
While his plane was en route to China, Musk tweeted about advances in China’s space program, which aims to land a crew on the moon before 2030.
‘The Chinese space program is far more advanced than most people realize,’ he said.
Pictured: Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai. China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the government welcomed Musk – and other business leaders – looking to promote ‘mutually beneficial cooperation’
Musk’s space company, SpaceX, and the military applications of its Starlink satellite network have been watched with interest and concern by Chinese researchers since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
State-owned Chinese companies are rushing to follow Starlink by launching their own low-Earth orbit, communications satellites. Chinese military researchers have studied Starlink as a potentially threatening technology, according to research reviewed by Reuters.
In January 2023, Musk spoke during a ceremony at Tesla’s new Gigafactory in Shanghai.
Musk talked about various initiatives and achievements. He said China would open a new design and engineering center in the country and that it will use the Shanghai Gigafactory to build a production program for the Model Y.
Accompanied by a video of Musk dancing onstage, he tweeted: ‘At Tesla Giga Shanghai NSFW!!’
Musk told CNBC earlier this month that ‘there are some constraints on our ability to expand in China.’ He added: ‘It’s not a demand issue.’
In the same interview, Musk said tensions between the United States and China ‘should be a concern for everyone’.
Washington and Beijing are attempting to stabilize relations over trade.
China’s commerce minister and his US counterpart raised concerns about their countries’ trade and investment policies at a meeting in Washington last week, but they pledged to keep channels of communication open.
It was the first visit by a senior Chinese official to the US capital since 2020.
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