Beijing (EFE).- The Prime Minister of China, Li Qiang, highlighted the development of Tesla in the Asian giant as an “example of the successful economic and commercial cooperation between China and the United States,” during a meeting with the executive director of the company, Elon Musk.
Musk, who was in Beijing to attend the 18th Auto Show in the Chinese capital, pointed out that the Tesla factory in the megalopolis of Shanghai (east) is the company’s best performing factory worldwide, “thanks to the hard work and the wisdom of the Chinese team,” different state media reported in the last few hours.
The plant, opened in 2019, produced more than 710,000 vehicles in 2022 alone, many of which are part of the 1.7 million vehicles sold by Tesla in China since it entered the country’s market a decade ago.
“It’s good to see the progress of electric vehicles in China. “All cars will be electric in the future,” Musk said in a video posted on social media by a user affiliated with state media.
Musk’s surprise visit to Beijing has raised expectations about the possible promotion of Tesla’s self-driving technology in China.
The American company could offer autopilot and supervised autonomous driving in the Asian country, which would represent an important step forward in the Chinese automotive industry, although it has not been reported that this was the topic of conversation in the meeting held with the prime minister.
Beijing Auto Show
The Beijing Motor Show, which runs from April 25 to May 4, has seen the presentation of 278 new models of new energy cars, reflecting China’s growing interest in this type of vehicle.
In this context, Tesla faces growing competition from local electric vehicle manufacturers such as BYD, Xpeng and Nio, or from the Chinese technology giant Xiaomi, which has just entered the sector with its SU7.
To maintain its dominant position in the Chinese market, Tesla has announced a price reduction of up to 6% on some of its models.
In addition, the company wants to build a new factory in Shanghai to produce ‘Megapack’, high-capacity batteries for energy storage, with a production capacity of about 10,000 units per year.
