Tesla and China: A Bond That’s Growing Stronger Thanks to Elon Musk and Xi Jinping!
President Xi Jinping of China showed his support for Tesla Inc., the electric carmaker owned by Elon Musk, during a recent event. In response, Musk expressed his gratitude for the warm reception from China, highlighting the close relationship between the two entities.
According to a Weibo post from Tesla’s official China account, Tesla CEO Musk attended the party on the evening of November 15 to welcome Xi, who is in San Francisco to meet and talk with US President Joe Biden as part of it. week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meetings.
At the dinner, Xi “met with Elon Musk and other key representatives in a small gathering, showing support for Tesla’s development in China,” the post said.
“Musk expressed his gratitude and applauded the rapid growth of China’s new energy vehicle sector,” Tesla’s Weibo message stated that this year marks the 10th anniversary of Tesla’s arrival in China, and its Shanghai factory built in 2019 has become an important production and export center for Tesla.”
“We are very honored to be a part of the rapid growth and wish to express our sincere thanks for the encouragement and support of all friends,” it continued. “We continue to dive deep into China.”
Xinhua News Agency previously reported that Musk said Tesla’s business in China is doing “very well” and he is “very satisfied” with its progress, referring to an interview with the world’s richest man.
While other parts of Musk’s empire, particularly SpaceX and its Starlink satellites that provide high-speed Internet connections, have received a cold reception — Beijing won’t allow SpaceX to provide Internet access to Chinese users through Starlink — Tesla has received a completely different reception. .
The US automaker has enjoyed advantages in China – the world’s largest auto market and also the largest electric car market – that other international companies have found difficult to obtain. Most notably, China allowed Tesla to fully own its domestic operations rather than having to share custody with a local joint venture partner.
Tax breaks, cheap loans and other forms of aid have since helped make China Tesla’s most important market outside the United States. Now, Tesla’s Shanghai manufacturing center is key for the automaker, as it produced more than 710,000 cars in 2022, representing more than half of the company’s global production.
But the road hasn’t always been smooth, as Tesla has also faced negative press and online criticism over the safety of its cars. Teslas have also been barred from entering China’s military complexes and housing facilities in recent years due to concerns about sensitive data being collected by cameras built into the vehicles, though Tesla and Musk have vowed to always follow local data rules.
Tesla began exporting Model 3 sedans made at the Shanghai factory in late 2020, less than a year after starting production at its first overseas car plant. By July 2021, the company called the facility its primary vehicle export center. Currently, the factory located on the outskirts of China’s economic center is capable of producing 1.1 million electric cars per year.
To better compete in China, Tesla recently launched a redesigned Model 3 sedan and a revamped Model Y vehicle. It raised the prices of both models slightly after steep price cuts earlier this year that ignited a fierce price war in the country among both international and domestic automakers.
