Elon Musk unexpectedly landed in Beijing on his private plane. As Chinese state television reports, the Tesla-Founder held discussions with high-ranking government officials, including negotiations with Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). According to Chinese state media, Musk is very happy about the progress made by electric cars in the People’s Republic.
According to an insider, his planned talks will be about software for self-driving cars and permission to transmit data abroad. The US pioneer for electric cars introduced the corresponding software four years ago. In China but it is not yet available.
Tesla is silent about the trip
Musk had already said this month that Tesla might make the software available to customers in China “very soon.” Chinese providers are currently trying to take advantage of the situation and lure customers with similar software. According to the company, Tesla has kept all data collected in China since 2021 in the country, in accordance with the requirements of the local regulatory authorities. They were therefore not transmitted to the USA, where Tesla has its headquarters. The company declined to comment on the trip.
At the same time as Musk’s visit, the Beijing Auto Show, one of the most important industry trade fairs of the year, is also currently taking place in Beijing. It is not known whether he will attend the event.
For Tesla, the People’s Republic of China is the second most important sales market in the world. The company has sold more than 1.7 million vehicles there since entering the market a decade ago. The company also has its largest factory in Shanghai.
However, the group is currently suffering from a lull in the electric car market, which also has to do with the brutal price competition in China. According to media reports, company boss Musk is said to have announced in the middle of the month that he would cut more than a tenth of all jobs in the company worldwide.