Elon Musk has jetted into Beijing for surprise meetings with China’s leadership as the Tesla boss makes a push for driverless technology in the country.
The billionaire landed in his private jet on Sunday and went straight to a sit-down with Li Qiang, China’s premier and second-most powerful politician after president Xi Jingping.
He arrived at the meeting in a black Tesla Model X and was greeted by Ren Hongbin, a government official who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
No details of what Mr Musk and Mr Li discussed were made public, however footage released by China’s state broadcaster showed the premier hailing Tesla as a “successful example of Sino-American economic and trade cooperation”.
Mr Musk is reportedly seeking permission to move driving data collected by his company in China out of the country so it can be processed in the US, where Tesla keeps its most sensitive and cutting-edge autonomous driving technology.
This would allow Tesla to better train its “autopilot” driverless car software, potentially meaning it could deploy the “full self-driving” version for use in China.
At the moment Chinese laws forbid domestic data being transferred out of the country and full self-driving autopilot has not been enabled there.
The move is seen as an important step, given China is Tesla’s second-biggest market, and the company is reportedly concerned it is being outflanked by Chinese rivals that have already rolled out their own competitor softwares.
On his way into the meeting on Sunday, Mr Musk was overheard telling journalists: “It’s good to see electric vehicles making progress in China. All cars will be electric in future.”
He later tweeted a picture of himself and Mr Li with the caption: “Honored to meet with Premier Li Qiang.
“We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days.”
The post is a reference to Mr Li’s previous role in helping Tesla secure permission for its first Chinese factory in Shanghai, its first outside the US, back in 2018.
The Chinese politician, who is now the second-most senior member of the country’s Politburo leadership committee, was previously the communist party’s secretary in Shanghai from 2017 to 2022.
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