Elon Musk made a surprise arrival in Beijing on Sunday, aiming to persuade Chinese officials to greenlight Tesla's Full Self-Driving software.
According to a source familiar with his visit, Musk intends to discuss the deployment of Tesla's most autonomous Autopilot software version and seek approval for transferring collected data from China abroad to refine the software's algorithm.
The unannounced visit to Tesla's second-largest market by its CEO wasn't publicly disclosed beforehand. Musk had previously mentioned that the groundbreaking self-driving technology would soon be accessible to Chinese customers.
Flight Manager, a Chinese flight tracking app, monitored Musk's arrival, indicating the landing of a Gulfstream private jet with tail number N272BG, registered to Falcon Landing, a company linked to SpaceX and Tesla, at Beijing Capital International Airport on Sunday.
Musk, who also owns X (formerly Twitter), utilizes another jet registered under Falcon Landing, bearing tail number N628TS, which he employed for a visit to China last year. During that trip, he toured Tesla's Shanghai factory and engaged with senior government officials in Beijing.
Though Tesla launched Full Self-Driving (FSD) four years ago, it wasn't introduced in China. Despite this, the company has sold over 1.7 million vehicles in China since entering the market a decade ago.
According to Chinese state media, Musk met with Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, where Li praised Tesla's development in China as a successful example of US-China economic cooperation. Musk is expected to meet with Ren Hongbin, a government official overseeing the Beijing Motor Show.
In a social media video posted by a user affiliated with Chinese state media, Musk expressed satisfaction with the progress of electric vehicles in China, predicting a future where all cars would be electric.
His visit coincides with the US auto safety regulator initiating an investigation into Tesla's recall of over 2 million vehicles in the US in December to implement new Autopilot safety measures.
Recent events include a fatal crash in Seattle involving a Tesla, where the driver admitted to using the Autopilot feature and checking their phone at the time. Tesla had previously stated that the software update would enhance warnings to drivers to maintain control of the vehicle.
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