Elon Musk At The Center Of China-US Diplomatic Chessboard

Elon Musk Visits China For The First Time In Three Years

Twitter and Tesla’s Chief Executive, Elon Musk began his China visit on Tuesday 30th May. Musk’s visit while a business trip to Tesla’s largest production hub has been touted to have diplomatic repercussions.

After arriving in Beijing, Musk began by paying a visit to the Chinese foreign minister, Qin Gang. After the meeting, the ministry released a statement highlighting what was discussed.

The statement disclosed that Minister Qin told Musk that China was committed to improving the business environment for investors. Qin then proceeded to use an elaborate driving metaphor to describe the state of diplomatic relations between China and the US.

“We must step on the brake in time, avoid dangerous driving and be skillful at using the accelerator to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.” He spoke.

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Mr. Musk was also quoted as having alluded to expanding his business in the country. He was also openly against the idea of decoupling the economies of the two superpowers describing them as “conjoined twins.”

There is no information as to how long his stay in China will be but he is expected to meet several other senior Chinese officials, visit Tesla’s Shanghai production plant, as well as Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, the Chines battery giant.

In April, Tesla said that it had plans in place to build a large battery factory, Megapack. The factory as per the plans has a production volume of 10,000 batteries per year in Shanghai.

Musk’s comments about expanding his business in the country are consistent with the factory plans and his meeting with Mr. Zeng, further confirms plans are underway.

However, Chinese-made electric vehicles are putting more pressure on Tesla, and its major production hub’s growth plans for the Shanghai factory are uncertain, to say the least. Investors at Tesla have questioned whether and how much Shanghai production will rise under the electric vehicle manufacturer.

Why Is China Attracting Many Executives

Elon Musk’s visit to China is his first in three years with his last coming before the pandemic broke. However, Musk is only one of many tech executives to visit the country in the past few months.

The country has been visited recently by Apple’s Tim Cook, JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, and Starbucks’ Laxman Narasimhan. As CNBC put it, “China is rolling out the red carpet to attract foreign executives.”

The spokeswoman of the Chinese Ministry speaking at a briefing said, “China has always welcomed business people from around the world, including Mr. Musk, to come to China to better understand China and promote mutually beneficial cooperation.”

Mao also said that the country was actively promoting the outside world by joining its market. She also added that foreign investment from foreign companies is viewed positively in the country as it contributes to economic development.