Elon Musk joined a growing list of CEOs of major US companies that are making trips to China this week. In addition to Musk, Starbucks and JP Morgan’s CEOs are in the country. However, unlike their low-key visits, Musk’s visit is a trending topic in China.
As we previously reported Musk met with China’s foreign, commerce and industry ministers. Although not much is known about the details of the meetings, Reuters reports that many of the discussions were around EVs and connected cars. In addition to political meetings, Musk also dined with Zeng Yuqun, the Chairman of CATL, one of Tesla’s main battery suppliers.
The CEO was joined on the trip by his new Senior Vice President of Automotive Tom Zhu and Tesla China head Grace Tao. Musk has not made any comments on the trip yet.
Musk has now continued his Chinese trip with a visit to Shanghai where he will have more meetings with senior officials, and visit Giga Shanghai for the first time since he was in attendance at the factory’s opening in 2020. Much like his earlier meetings, the details around the meetings remain unavailable.
Elon Musk finished his trip in Beijing and is flying to Shanghai. pic.twitter.com/fpdsZh8sdl
— Yan Chang (@cyfoxcat) May 31, 2023
It is unclear if Tesla is facing any regulatory hurdles with its potential expansion of Giga Shanghai or other issues. However, this is the first time Musk has gone to China in three years, so we are sure many topics are being discussed at the senior political and business levels.
