Tesla CEO Elon Musk had a surprise meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in Beijing. The meeting, which took place in conjunction with the Beijing Motor Show, where Chinese manufacturers are presenting their latest electric vehicle models, seems to pave the way for a new phase of dialogue and collaboration between Tesla and the world’s second largest economy. China is home to Tesla’s largest manufacturing plant in Shanghai outside the United States, where approximately half of the American giant’s vehicles are produced. The electric car maker has faced a particularly difficult year partly due to strong competition from Chinese brands. In the first quarter of this year in fact Tesla reported earnings of $1.1 billion, down sharply from $2.51 billion a year earlier.
The billionaire businessman’s visit came about a week after he canceled a planned trip to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to “very heavy commitments with Tesla.” Earlier this month, Musk also announced in a note that the company would be laying off more than 10 percent of its global workforce so it could be “lean, innovative, and hungry for the next phase of growth.” During Musk’s visit, Tesla has reached a deal with Chinese tech giant Baidu to use its mapping license for data collection on Chinese public roads overcoming a major regulatory hurdle for the rollout of self-driving software in the country and the same
Chinese Prime Minister Li expressly reiterated this during Sunday’s meeting hope that cooperation with the United States will be a “win-win” cooperation, citing Tesla’s operations in the country as a successful example of mutual collaboration, Chinese state media reported. “China’s very large-scale market will always be open to foreign-funded firms,” Li said, assuring that China will keep its promise and continue to work hard to expand market access and strengthen service guarantees.