Elon Musk Visits a Major Market

Tesla's CEO is due to visit, according to Bloomberg News, the Tesla factory in Shanghai, China, this weekend, amid tensions between Washington and Beijing.

It was a visit that had been rumored for a few days. 

Three years after his last trip to China, Elon Musk is back in the country.

Tesla's billionaire CEO is to visit the electric vehicle maker's factory in Shanghai this Easter weekend, according to Bloomberg News.

He may also meet with local authorities, but these plans could change, reported Bloomberg News.

There is no indication whether Musk will meet Premier Li Qiang during the trip. Li is leading the country's efforts to convince international companies to continue investing in China. 

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. 

Musk who posted on Twitter today, did not mention this trip.

China Is a Key Market for Tesla

This trip comes in the midst of tensions between the United States and China, which have evolved into a kind of technological war. Beijing is also trying to attract foreign investors and businesses, as the Chinese economy tries to revive itself, after years of COVID-19, marred by the lockdown which saw the country shut off from the world.

Musk is traveling with Tom Zhu, the former head of China operations, who was promoted to head of production operations at Tesla last year. Zhu is now the company's manufacturing leader. This promotion makes him one of the potential successors to Musk as CEO.

The Shanghai plant, which produces the company's two most popular models — the Model 3 and the Model Y — serves the Asian and European markets. Giga Shanghai has a production capacity of more than 750,000 vehicles per year, according to the company.

Musk has not visited China for three years. His last visit dates back to the beginning of 2020. At the time, images of him dancing on a podium at the Shanghai factory had travelled around the world and had won him a lot of popularity.

Since then, Musk has seen his influence grow. For a period, he became the richest man in the world. He is currently the world's second richest man, behind French businessman Bernard Arnault, with a net wealth valued at $171 billion as of Apr. 7, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The serial entrepreneur has also become an important voice on the global geopolitical scene, a status he earned by providing Starlink to Ukraine at war with Russia. Starlink is a secure satellite internet access service, developed by SpaceX, another of the billionaire's companies.

Furthermore, last October, he acquired Twitter, the social network considered the platform where trendsetters and opinion makers meet around the world, for $44 billion. The social media puts Musk, who describes himself as a "free speech absolutist," in a delicate position, particularly with regard to censorship in China. How would he respond to requests from Beijing to remove content or block certain voices opposed to the regime, is one of the questions that many experts ask.

It is worth noting that Tesla is still awaiting for the green light from Chinese authorities for FSD, or Full Self Driving, its advanced driver assistance system.

The automaker is also experiencing delays in its efforts to double the production capacity in the Shanghai plant.

What is certain is that, a visit by Musk to China will be followed closely by the political and business world.