1 of 2 | Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited the Tesla electric car plant near Berlin, Germany last month.. Musk visited China, the world’s largest automaker, over the weekend in support of EVs. File Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE
April 28 (UPI) — U.S. billionaire Elon Musk met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday in Beijing, with the founder of SpaceX and Tesla aiming to bring Tesla’s self-diving technology to cars in the world’s largest automaker. “Honored to meet with Premier Li Qiang,” Musk said in a statement on X, which he owns.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman responded to the statement by welcoming Musk to China.
“Tesla’s success in China is a stellar example of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation,” she said.
Musk’s latest visit is happening at the same time as the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, which started on Thursday and ran through Saturday.
In his statement, Musk had said that he had known Li “for many years,” which seemed to confirm an earlier report that said Musk was expected to meet senior Chinese officials at the State Council as well as “old friends” in Beijing.
Texas-based Tesla has faced competition from Chinese EV makers recently and has cut the prices of its Shanghai-made vehicles by up to 6% to maintain its leading position in China’s high-end EV market, South China Morning News reported.
Chinese drivers have increasingly adopted driver-assistance systems and higher levels of autonomous driving functions in mass-produced cars. Musk has said Tesla’s autopilot and supervised full self-driving options could soon be provided to its Chinese customers.
During the meeting, Li described Tesla’s development in China as a successful example of positive U.S.-China bilateral relations, the official paper of the Chinese Communist Party People’s Daily reported.
Musk responded by stating his Tesla Shanghai gigafactory is Tesla’s top performer and he suggested a want to deepen cooperation with the Asian nation.
It was Musk’ second visit to China in a year.
