On Sunday, April 28, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk made a surprise visit to Beijing without prior announcement and met with senior Chinese officials including Premier Li Keqiang. Reports indicate that Musk is pushing for Beijing’s approval to introduce “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) technology in the Chinese market for Tesla while also seeking permission to transfer data overseas.
Musk confirmed his meeting with Li Keqiang on Sunday through a post on the social media platform X.
According to Reuters, Musk’s private plane arrived in Beijing on Sunday in an unexpected visit to China as shown by flight tracking applications.
In 2018, Tesla reached an agreement with Chinese authorities to build a factory in Shanghai, its first outside the United States. Four years ago, Tesla introduced FSD, the most advanced autonomous version in its Autopilot software, but it has not been launched in the Chinese market yet, despite customer demands.
Musk hinted on social media platform X earlier this month that Tesla may soon offer FSD to Chinese users.
Chinese competitors such as Xiaopeng Motors have been seeking to launch similar software to gain an advantage over Tesla.
Sources told Reuters that Musk is seeking Beijing’s approval to transfer data collected in China overseas to train its autonomous driving algorithms.
Industry experts point out that China has complex traffic conditions with more pedestrians and cyclists than many other regions, providing crucial scenarios for training autonomous driving algorithms efficiently.
Since 2021, in accordance with Chinese regulatory requirements, Tesla has stored all its collected data in China in Shanghai and has not transmitted any data back to the United States.
When CCTV covered Musk’s meeting with Li Keqiang, no information was provided on whether they discussed FSD or data transfer overseas.
According to CCTV, Musk visited Beijing at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and met with CCPIT Chairman Geng Bin after arriving in Beijing on Sunday afternoon.
Musk recently announced that Tesla will leverage its existing electric vehicle platform and production line to launch new, more affordable models, including a new “robotaxi” featuring self-driving technology. He mentioned on the X platform that the robotaxi will be launched on August 8.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that sources revealed Musk is seeking to persuade Chinese regulatory authorities to allow Tesla to offer FSD capabilities to Chinese customers.
Sources mentioned that Musk hopes to transmit data to the United States to create a larger data pool for better training driving assistance features. Given that the Chinese government considers protecting such data a national security issue, this could pose a difficult situation.
As consumer demand for electric vehicles cools down, Tesla faces increasing challenges. Following a report of a drop in revenue and a significant decrease in profit in the first quarter of this year, the company is globally reducing its workforce by over 10%.
Musk’s visit coincides with the Beijing Auto Show, which opened last week and will conclude on May 4.