During a trip to China this week, billionaire Elon Musk was showered with acclaim. People called him “a pioneer,” “Brother Ma,” and “a global idol” on social media, while the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), Twitter, SpaceX, and other firms also met in person with three government ministers.
Musk has dined with Zeng Yuqun, chairman of key battery supplier CATL (300750.SZ), as well as China’s foreign, commerce, and industry ministers since arriving in Beijing on Tuesday.
The details of the exchanges are vague. The commerce ministry reported that Musk and its leader also spoke about Tesla’s progress in China. The industry ministry simply stated that Musk and its head discussed the development of electric vehicles and connected cars.
On Chinese social media, though, there was a flurry of support for Musk despite the paucity of details.
He’s a universal hero, one person said. Another person remarked, “Elon Musk is just great, if only China could have someone like Elon Musk.”
According to flight data service Variflight, his private aircraft departed Beijing on Wednesday evening for Shanghai’s business district, where the American manufacturer has a facility.
According to two persons with knowledge of the situation, he was planning to visit the plant to speak with the personnel.
A request for comment from Tesla was not immediately complied with.
Since China revised its zero-COVID policy and reopened its borders, Musk’s secret trip there was the most recent by a significant American CEO. Tim Cook from Apple (AAPL.O) and Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan (JPM.N) as well as Laxman Narasimhan from Starbucks (SBUX.O) are currently in China.
Although U.S.-China tensions are on the rise, Musk’s visit is a hot trending topic, in contrast to his peers’ more subdued welcomes. People are particularly interested in what he has to say about artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Photos shared on social media revealed how extravagant even the menu for the 16-course meal he enjoyed with CATL’s Zeng on Tuesday night was.
The menu depicted two rearing horses as an allusion to the Chinese character for horse that appears in Musk’s name. It defined Tesla as a “dark horse” that “stands out from traditional automotive companies.”
Musk has yet to make any public pronouncements while on his trip, in contrast to the social media uproar in China and his penchant to cause a stir at home on Twitter (which he now owns). In China, Twitter is forbidden.
Requests for response from Tesla and CATL were not answered. A request for comment from the commerce ministry received no response either. According to the foreign ministry, the billionaire called the economies of the United States and China “conjoined twins” and opposed their separation.
Musk’s first trip to China in three years comes as Tesla deals with escalating competition from electric vehicles built in China and some ambiguity around expansion plans for the Shanghai facility.
More than half of the company’s global output, or over 700,000 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles, were made in the Shanghai factory in 2017.
It remained unclear whether Tesla will have to overcome any regulatory obstacles to expand the factory.
