Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday that China would "always" be open to foreign firms, state media reported, as the two met during the billionaire's second trip to China in the space of a year.
Li said during his meeting with Musk that the automaker's development in China can be called "a successful example of Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation."
"China's very large-scale market will always be open to foreign-funded firms," Li told Musk, according to state broadcaster CCTV, promising China would "continue working hard to expand market access".
Musk said Tesla's Shanghai factory is the company's best-performing, "thanks to the hard work and wisdom of the Chinese team", according to CCTV.
Tesla has a major manufacturing base in Shanghai for both domestic sales in China and exports to Europe and other regions.
The European Union has launched an investigation into Chinese subsidies for the EV industry that could lead to tariffs on electric vehicles made in China, potentially including Tesla cars.
Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a surprise visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
A brief online report from CCTV also said that Musk had come at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and met with its president, Ren Hongbin, to exchange views on further cooperation and other topics.
It wasn't clear whether Musk would visit the auto show, which runs through this week. Chinese automakers and startups have launched a bevy of electric cars in recent years, some going head-to-head with Tesla and undercutting the American maker on price.
Foreign automakers such as Volkswagen and Nissan are scrambling to develop new EV models to hold onto or claw back market share in China, the world's largest automobile market.
(Reuters, AFP and AP)
