Billionaire Elon Musk was showered with praise during a visit to China this week, with people on social media calling him “a pioneer,” “Brother Ma” and “a worldwide idol” while the CEO of Tesla, Twitter, SpaceX and other corporations also met in person with three government ministers.
Since landing in Beijing on Tuesday, Musk has met with China’s foreign, commerce and industry ministers and has dined with Zeng Yuqun, chairman of top battery supplier CATL.
Little is thought of those conversations. The industry ministry only said Musk and its head exchanged views about development of electrical vehicles and connected cars; the commerce ministry announced he discussed Tesla’s development in China with its head. But ignorance didn’t stop an outpouring of enthusiasm for Musk on Chinese social media.
“He’s a worldwide idol,” commented one user. “Elon Musk is just great, if only China could have someone like Elon Musk,” said one other.
His private jet left Beijing on Wednesday evening for the financial hub of Shanghai, where the US automaker has a factory, in accordance with flight data provider Variflight. He was expected to travel to the plant to satisfy 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 by a serious US CEO to China because the country reversed its zero-COVID policy and reopened its borders. Apple’s Tim Cook visited in March, while JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Starbucks’ Laxman Narasimhan are in China this week.
But in comparison with lower-key welcomes for his counterparts, Musk’s visit is a hot trending topic and his popularity comes despite rising US-China tensions, with keen interest shown in his comments on artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Even the menu for the 16-course meal on the upmarket Man Fu Yan restaurant he shared with CATL’s Zeng on Tuesday evening was effusive, photos posted on social media showed.
Illustrated with two rearing horses — a play on the character for horse utilized in Musk’s Chinese name — the menu described Tesla as a dark horse “standing out from traditional automotive corporations.”
In contrast to the social media storm in China and his propensity at home to make waves on Twitter (which he now owns), 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 the billionaire as describing the US and China economies as “conjoined twins” and saying that he was against their decoupling.
Musk’s first visit to China in three years comes as Tesla faces intensifying competition from Chinese-made electric vehicles and a few uncertainty about expansion plans for the Shanghai plant.
The Shanghai factory produced over 700,000 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles last 12 months, greater than half of the corporate’s global output.
It was not clear if Tesla is facing any regulatory hurdles to expanding the plant.
Investors are also keen to know whether China regulators will clear the discharge of Tesla’s advanced driver assistance features. The features can be found in the USA as a part of the “Full Self Driving” software it sells for $15,000 per vehicle.
