Elon Musk made an unexpected visit to Beijing on Sunday to meet China’s number two leader, Premier Li Qiang, as Tesla contends with declining sales and data security concerns in the world’s biggest car market. Musk landed in the Chinese capital on Sunday afternoon and met Li, as the electric vehicle maker’s chief sought to overcome recent setbacks — including in China — by refocusing Tesla on artificial intelligence with a planned “robotaxi” service.
China, Tesla’s second-biggest market after the US, is particularly significant, since sales have been sliding this year and Musk’s ambitions to boost Tesla’s appeal with new autonomous driving capabilities have been curtailed owing to Chinese restrictions on the use of customer data.
The country’s national broadcaster reported that Li described Tesla’s business in the country as a “successful example” of economic and trade co-operation with the US — emollient language at a time when trade tensions between Beijing and Washington have increased, particularly over technology.