Elon Musk’s private jet lands in China for what would be billionaire’s first visit in three years

A private jet used by Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after it was confirmed that the Tesla boss would be visiting China this week for the first time in three years. In response to reports of Mr Musk’s visit, China’s foreign ministry said that the country has always welcomed business people from other parts of the world, including Mr Musk, “to visit and promote mutually beneficial cooperation”. China’s foreign minister Qin Gang said during a meeting with Mr Musk on Tuesday that the country would create a better market-oriented business environment for enterprises from all countries, including Tesla. Mr Qin told the Tesla chief that China would continue to promote high-level opening-up and strive to create a better business environment, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry. The statement noted that Tesla opposed “decoupling” and was willing to continue to expand its business in China. Following Mr Musk’s meet with the Chinese foreign minister, shares of the EV company rose on Tuesday. Tesla’s Shanghai plant accounted for over half of the company’s global production in 2022. Commenting on his China visit, some Twitter users wondered if the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” would face questions during his visit about the communist country’s harsh rules around censorship. Mr Musk’s visit also comes when Tesla is dealing with growing competition from Chinese car makers, including the country’s electric vehicle exports. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Tesla is closing in on a trial production of its revamped Model 3 sedan in Shanghai, which the carmaker hopes to compete more closely with rivals in the Chinese market. Ahead of his trip, the SpaceX boss also complimented China’s space programme, calling it “more advanced than most people realise”. Read More Trust and ethics considerations ‘have come too late’ on AI technology Elon Musk tweets quote by neo-Nazi wrongly attributed to Voltaire Elon Musk fires back at Twitter censorship critic: ‘You’re such a numbskull’ Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip company gets FDA approval for human testing AOC jokes more people watched her gaming online than listened to DeSantis launch What is Twitter Spaces and why did it go so wrong during DeSantis’s 2024 launch?