Beijing: He is “a pioneer”, “Brother Ma” and some want to make him US President. Billionaire Elon Musk was showered with praise by the Chinese public during his visit to China and securing an audience with three government ministers.
Since landing in Beijing on Tuesday, Tesla Inc’s chief executive has met with China’s foreign, commerce and industry ministers and dined with Zeng Yukun, chairman of top battery supplier CATL.
While little is known about those discussions — the industry ministry has said only that Musk and his chief, Jin Zhuanglong, exchanged ideas about the development of electric vehicles and connected cars — that has fueled Musk’s attention on Chinese social media. The enthusiasm hasn’t stopped.
“She is a global idol,” commented a user. “Elon Musk is great, if only China could have someone like Elon Musk,” said another.
Musk’s unannounced trip is the latest by a major US CEO to China as the country reversed its zero-COVID policy and reopened its borders. Apple’s Tim Cook visited in March, while JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon and Starbucks’ Lakshman Narasimhan are also in China this week.
But compared to the low-key reception for his counterparts, Musk’s visit is the subject of a hot trend and his popularity comes despite rising US-China tensions, fueled by keen interest in his comments on artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Photos posted on social media showed that the menu for the 16-course meal at the upmarket Man Fu Yan restaurant shared with CATL’s Zeng on Tuesday evening was also impressive.
Illustrated with two cradled horses – a play on the horse character used in Musk’s Chinese name – the menu described Tesla as a dark horse “standing apart from traditional automotive companies”.
Unlike his tendency at home to create social media storms in China and waves on Twitter (which he now owns), Musk has yet to make any public statements during his visit. Twitter is blocked in China.
Tesla and CATL did not respond to requests for comment. The commerce ministry also did not respond to a request for comment. The foreign ministry quoted the billionaire as describing the US and China economies as “twin twins” and that he was opposed to their separation.
Musk’s first trip to China in three years Tesla faces intense competition from Chinese-made electric vehicles and some uncertainty about expansion plans for the Shanghai plant.
The factory produced more than 700,000 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles last year, more than half of the company’s global output.
It was not clear whether Tesla was facing any regulatory hurdles for expanding the plant.
Investors are also keen to know whether Chinese regulators will approve the release of Tesla’s advanced driver assistance features. The features are available in the United States as part of the “Full Self Driving” software, which sells for $15,000 per vehicle.
Musk is expected to meet other senior Chinese officials and visit the Shanghai plant later in the week, the sources said, although it was not clear who exactly he would meet or what issues they would discuss.
(Reporting by Martin Pollard; Additional reporting by Josh Arslan, Wang Tingshu and Joe Cash in Beijing and Zhang Yan in Shanghai and Shanghai newsrooms; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Disclaimer: This report is generated automatically from Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.
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