Elon Musk speaks in China about next-generation vehicles

Tesla CEO Elon Musk held talks in Beijing with Chinese Minister of Industry Jin Zhuanglong, on new generation vehicles and said it wants to continue to expand its business in China.

Musk and Jin exchanged views on the development of new energy vehicles and smart connected vehiclesChina’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement posted on its website.

No further details of the conversation were released and Tesla representatives did not respond to questions about Musk’s activities, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday. This is Musk’s first trip to China in more than three years..

China, the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, It is a strategic country for Tesla. Musk told Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, that Tesla wanted to continue to expand its business in China, ministry sources said.

Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles in China doubled in 2022 and they account for more than a quarter of all vehicles sold, a level never seen before, according to the China Federation of Individual Automobile Manufacturers (CPCA).

Government support for electric vehicles, coupled with growing consumer interest, enabled Chinese companies to dominate their domestic marketthe largest automotive market in the world.

Even if Tesla remains the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles, the popularity of Chinese brands has exploded in recent years. The net profit of Chinese manufacturer BYD, one of the country’s most prominent brands in the electric vehicle niche, has quintupled in 2022.

In exchange, Tesla’s net profit fell in the first quarter of the year due to lower prices, despite a significant increase in sales. The American manufacturer announced in April that it would set up a second battery mega-factory in Shanghai.

The plant will have an initial capacity of 10,000 Megapack batteries a year and is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2024, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

the industrial site will be Tesla’s second factory in eastern China’s financial hub. The first opened in 2019. During his meeting with Qin Gang, Musk said he opposed any economic decoupling between China and the United States, according to Chinese diplomacy.

“The interests of the United States and China are closely linkedlike inseparable twins,” he said, according to the same source.

Relations between Musk, also owner of the social network Twitter, and Beijing sow doubt in Washington. US President Joe Biden said in November that the Tesla boss’s ties to foreign countries deserved consideration.

Musk has also sparked controversy by suggesting that the island of Taiwan, claimed by Beijing, should be part of china. Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said visits from international leaders who promote better understanding of China and mutually beneficial cooperation are welcome.