Elon Musk visits China as Tesla seeks self-driving technology rollout

SHANGHAI - Tesla chief executive Elon Musk landed in Beijing on April 28 for a surprise visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The US electric vehicle maker rolled out Full Self-Driving (FSD), the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago but has yet to make it available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customers urging it to do so.

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

The US electric vehicle (EV) maker rolled out FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago but has yet to make it available in China despite customers urging it to do so.

Mr Musk said in April that Tesla might make FSD available to customers in China “very soon”, in response to a query on social media platform X.

Rival Chinese automakers such as Xpeng have been seeking to gain an advantage over Tesla by rolling out similar software.

Mr Musk’s visit to China was not flagged publicly, and the people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with the media. Tesla did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

His itinerary on April 28 includes a meeting with Mr Ren Hongbin, a government official who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the organiser of the Beijing auto show currently underway, state media reported.

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

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

The company said in April that it would lay off 10 per cent of its global workforce as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for EVs led by Chinese brands.

Landed in Beijing

A Gulfstream private jet with tail number N272BG, which is registered to Falcon Landing, a company connected to SpaceX and Tesla, landed at Beijing Capital Airport on April 28 at 6.03am GMT (2.03pm Singapore time), according to Chinese flight tracking app Flight Manager.

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

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

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

GM CEO Mary Barra on April 26 made an unannounced visit to the show in the world’s biggest auto market, according to two people with knowledge of her schedule. GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also on April 26, Ms Grace Tao, Tesla’s vice-president in charge of external relations in China, published a commentary on the social media account of state media outlet People’s Daily, arguing that autonomous driving technologies would be the new growth engine for the EV industry.

Ms Tao said in the article that Tesla was leading autonomous driving research and development 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, provide more scenarios that are key for training autonomous driving algorithms at a faster pace, according to industry experts.

Mr Musk said last week that Tesla would introduce new, cheaper models using its current EV platforms and production lines, and would offer a new “robotaxi” with self-driving technology. He said in a post on X in April that he would unveil the robotaxi on Aug 8.

Tesla shares are down by almost a third since the start of the year as concerns have grown about the EV maker’s growth trajectory. Last week, it reported its first decline in quarterly revenue since 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic slowed production and deliveries.

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