Elon Musk visits China as Tesla seeks to implement autonomous driving technology By Reuters

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet with senior officials to discuss the launch of fully autonomous driving software and permission for transfer data abroad, according to one person. with knowledge of the matter.

Chinese state media reported that he met with Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that the development of Tesla (NASDAQ:) in China could be considered a successful example of US economic and trade cooperation. and China.

Musk confirmed his meeting with the prime minister on Sunday with a post on social media platform x.

“It is an honor to meet Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other for many years, since the early days of Shanghai,” Musk posted, along with a photo with the premier.

Tesla reached an agreement with Chinese authorities for a plant in Shanghai, its first outside the United States, in 2018.

The American electric vehicle maker launched Full Self-Driving (FSD), the more autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago, but it is still not available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customers Clients urge him to do so. so.

Musk said this month that Tesla could make FSD available to customers in China “very soon,” in response to a query on social media platform x.

Rival Chinese automakers like Xpeng (NYSE 🙂 have been trying to gain an advantage over Tesla by launching similar software.

Musk is seeking approval to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms for his self-driving technologies, the person said.

Since 2021, Tesla has stored all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai as required by Chinese regulators and has not transferred any to the United States.

Musk's visit to China, which was first reported by Reuters, was not publicly noted and the person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, in its report on Musk's meeting with Li, did not say whether the two had discussed FSD or data.

Earlier in the day, a separate report broadcast on state radio said Li had visited the ongoing auto show in Beijing and commented on how China's smart new energy vehicle (NEV) sector had gained a leading position. in the market and that the country had to work. hard and maintain its advantages.

Musk also met with Ren Hongbin, a government official who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the organizer of the Beijing auto show, state media reported.

“It's good to see electric vehicles advancing in China. All cars will be electric in the future,” Musk said in a video posted on social media by a user affiliated with state media.

Late Sunday, a major Chinese auto association published a list of 76 car models that it said it had tested and found to meet China's data security requirements, including the Model Y and Model 3. of Tesla.

Musk's trip came just over a week after he scrapped a planned visit to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing “very heavy obligations to Tesla.”

The company said this month it would lay off 10% of its global workforce as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war over electric vehicles led by Chinese brands.

U.S. auto safety regulators said on Friday they had opened an investigation to determine whether Tesla's recall of more than 2 million vehicles in the U.S. announced in December to install new Autopilot protections was adequate after a series of accidents.

LANDED IN BEIJING

A Gulfstream private plane with tail number N272BG, registered to Falcon Landing, a company connected to SpaceX and Tesla, landed at Beijing Capital Airport on Sunday at 0603 GMT, according to Chinese flight tracking app Flight Manager.

The other plane registered under Falcon Landing is the N628TS, which is Musk's main plane that he used to travel to China on his last trip almost a year ago, when he met with Chinese government officials in Beijing and visited the Tesla factory in Shanghai.

Tesla has sold more than 1.7 million cars in China since it entered the market a decade ago and the Shanghai factory is the largest globally.

Musk's visit coincides with the Beijing auto show, which opened last week and runs through May 4. Tesla does not have a booth at China's largest auto show and last attended in 2021.

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra made an unannounced visit to the show in the world's largest auto market on Friday, according to two people with knowledge of her schedule. GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also on Friday, Grace Tao, Tesla's vice president in charge of foreign relations in China, posted a comment on the social media account of state media People's Daily, arguing that self-driving technologies would be the new growth engine for the company. electric vehicle industry.

Tao said in the article that Tesla was leading the research and development of autonomous driving with its “end-to-end neural network” technology and data collected from millions of cars on the road.

China's complicated traffic conditions, with more pedestrians and cyclists than in many other markets, offer more scenarios that are key to training autonomous driving algorithms at a faster pace, according to industry experts.

Musk said last week that Tesla would introduce new, cheaper models using its current electric vehicle platforms and production lines and offer a new “robotaxis” with self-driving technology. He said in a post on x this month that he would introduce the robotaxi on August 8.

Tesla shares are down nearly a third since the beginning of the year as concerns have grown about the electric vehicle maker's growth trajectory. Last week, Tesla reported its first drop in quarterly revenue since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production and deliveries.