Tesla’s Musk Hails China’s ‘Vitality’ on Beijing Visit

Residents walk past a Tesla showroom in Beijing, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (AP)
Residents walk past a Tesla showroom in Beijing, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (AP)
TT
20

Tesla’s Musk Hails China’s ‘Vitality’ on Beijing Visit

Residents walk past a Tesla showroom in Beijing, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (AP)
Residents walk past a Tesla showroom in Beijing, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (AP)

Elon Musk praised China's "vitality and promise" on Wednesday, Beijing said, during a trip to China in which he has met multiple government officials and reportedly declared he will expand his business there.

 

The mercurial tycoon, one of the world's richest men, is on his first trip to China in over three years.

 

He met Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing on Wednesday, praising "the vitality and potential of China's development", according to a ministry readout of the meeting.

 

Musk "expressed full confidence in the China market, and was willing to continue deepening mutually beneficial cooperation".

 

He also said "China-US relations are not a zero-sum game", the readout added, and thanked China for "the support and guarantees it provided for Tesla's Shanghai factory during the Covid-19 pandemic", when it was placed under strict lockdowns.

 

Musk has extensive business interests in the country and told Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday that his firm was "willing to continue to expand its business in China", according to the foreign ministry.

 

Musk and Tesla have not released any statement themselves on the trip or responded to AFP requests for comment.

 

Chinese media reported that Tesla welcomed its CEO to Beijing on Tuesday with a 16-course dinner that included seafood, New Zealand lamb and traditional Beijing-style soybean paste noodles.

 

Musk also met Industry Minister Jin Zhuanglong in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss "the development of new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles", the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a readout.

 

On Wednesday evening the tycoon was seen boarding his private plane at Beijing's Capital International Airport.

 

He is next expected to visit his factory in Shanghai, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, and potentially meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

 

China is the world's biggest electric vehicle market and Tesla announced in April it would build a second massive factory in Shanghai, after its Gigafactory that broke ground in 2019.

 

Deep business ties

 

In his meeting with Qin on Tuesday, Musk expressed his opposition to any economic "decoupling" between China and the United States, Beijing said.

 

"The interests of the United States and China are intertwined, like conjoined twins, who are inseparable from each other," Musk said.

 

Musk's extensive business ties to China have raised eyebrows in Washington, with President Joe Biden saying in November the executive's links to foreign countries were "worthy" of scrutiny.

 

He has also caused controversy by suggesting the self-ruled island of Taiwan should become part of China -- a stance welcomed by Chinese officials but which deeply angered Taipei.

 

Musk is one of a number of Western executives to visit China since the country ended strict Covid controls that saw it largely closed off from the world for almost three years.

 

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said this week that Beijing welcomed visits by international executives "to better understand China and promote mutually beneficial cooperation".

 

In March, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Beijing, saying his company enjoyed a "symbiotic" relationship with China.

 

That same month, Albert Bourla, CEO of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, also paid a visit to the Chinese capital.



Microsoft Lays Out Data Protection Plans for European Cloud Customers

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella is pictured onstage during the Microsoft Build conference opening keynote in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)
Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella is pictured onstage during the Microsoft Build conference opening keynote in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)
TT
20

Microsoft Lays Out Data Protection Plans for European Cloud Customers

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella is pictured onstage during the Microsoft Build conference opening keynote in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)
Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella is pictured onstage during the Microsoft Build conference opening keynote in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

Microsoft on Monday said data stored by its European cloud customers would stay in Europe, under European Law, with operations controlled by its local personnel, and under full control of customers.

European companies and governments have been increasingly worrying about their data being moved outside the continent into the hands of other countries such as the US, pushing the American companies such as Microsoft to announce safeguards.

Microsoft in April laid out plans to protect user data as it expands its cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe, including respecting European laws seeking to rein in the power of large technology companies.

On Monday, the company said all remote access by Microsoft engineers to the systems that store and process European data would be approved and monitored by European resident personnel in real-time.

Microsoft said its sovereign private cloud is in preview mode currently and will be generally available later this year.