Elon Musk visits China as Tesla seeks rollout of self-driving tech

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday on an unannounced visit where he was expected to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation.

"Honored to meet with Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days," Musk posted on social media platform X as he appeared in a picture with the premier.

Tesla reached an accord with Chinese authorities for a plant in Shanghai, its first outside the United States, in 2018.

The U.S. electric-vehicle maker rolled out FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago but has yet to make it available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customer demand.

Musk said this month that Tesla may make FSD available to customers in China "very soon," in response to a query on X.

Equity analysts at Wedbush called the surprise visit "a major moment for Tesla."

"While the long term valuation story at Tesla hinges on FSD and autonomous, a key missing piece in that puzzle is Tesla making FSD available in China which now appears on the doorstep," Wedbush said in an emailed company report.

Rival Chinese automakers such as Xpeng have been seeking to gain an advantage over Tesla by rolling out similar software.

Tesla has since 2021 stored all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai, as required by Chinese regulators, and has not transferred any back to the United States.

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