Billionaire Elon Musk was showered with praise on a trip to China this week, with people on social media calling him a “pioneer”, “Brother Ma” and a “world idol”, while the CEO of Tesla, Twitter, SpaceX and other firms also met personally with three government ministers.
Since landing in Beijing on Tuesday, Musk has met with Chinese foreign, trade and industry ministers and dined with Zeng Yuqun, president of leading battery supplier CATL.
Little is thought about these conversations. The industry ministry said only that Musk and his boss exchanged views on the event of electrical vehicles and connected cars; The Ministry of Commerce announced that it had spoken with its boss about Tesla’s development in China. However the lack of expertise hasn’t stopped enthusiasm for Musk on Chinese social media.
“He’s a global idol,” commented one user. “Elon Musk is just great, if only China could have someone like Elon Musk,” said one other.
His private jet flew from Beijing on Wednesday evening to the financial center of Shanghai, where the US automaker has a factory, in response to aviation data provider Variflight. He was expected to travel to the plant to fulfill with staff, two sources conversant in the matter said.
Tesla didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Musk’s unannounced trip was the newest for a major US CEO to go to China for the reason that country modified its COVID-19 zero policy and reopened its borders. Apple’s Tim Cook visited in March, and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Starbucks’ Laxman Narasimhan are in China this week.
But in comparison with less important greetings for his counterparts, Musk’s visit is a hot topic, along with his popularity emerging despite rising tensions between the US and China, with keen interest shown by his comments on artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Even the menu for a 16-course meal at Man Fu Yan’s high-end restaurant, which he shared with CATL’s Zeng on Tuesday night, was effusive, photos posted on social media showed.
Illustrated with two herds of horses – a play on the horse character used in Musk’s Chinese name – the menu described Tesla as a dark horse “stand out from traditional automotive firms”.
Contrary to the social media storm in China and his penchant for making a fuss on Twitter (which he now owns) at home, Musk has yet to make any public statements during his trip. Twitter is blocked in China.
Tesla and CATL didn’t reply to requests for comment. The commerce ministry also didn’t reply to a request for comment. The foreign ministry quoted a billionaire who described the US and Chinese economies as “Siamese twins” and said he was against their separation.
Musk’s first visit to China in three years comes as Tesla faces intensifying competition from Chinese electric vehicles and uncertainty over plans to expand its Shanghai factory.
The Shanghai plant produced greater than 700,000 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles last 12 months, accounting for greater than half of the corporate’s global production.
It wasn’t clear if Tesla faced any regulatory hurdles in expanding the plant.
Investors also need to know if Chinese regulators will allow Tesla’s advanced driver assistance features to be made available. The features can be found in the US as a part of the “Full Self Driving” software, which retails for $15,000 per vehicle.