BEIJING: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and Jin Zhuanglong, Chinese Minister of Industry, discussed “new energy vehicles” on Wednesday.
According to a summary on the Chinese Ministry of Industry’s website, the two “exchanged views on the development of new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles”.
It didn’t provide any more information about the meeting. AFP contacted Tesla representatives for further details on Musk’s trip, but they did not reply.
Musk is in China on his first trip to the globe’s second-largest economy in over three years.
According to the BBC, Musk arrived in Beijing on Tuesday and is expected to visit Tesla’s huge manufacturing plant in Shanghai.
The multi-billionaire met China’s foreign minister Qin Gang within hours of arriving there.
Musk hasn’t publicly commented on the trip amid tension between the United States and China.
He declined to make any comments about his plans for the trip when asked by reporters as he left the hotel in Beijing on Wednesday.
China’s foreign ministry said that Musk was willing to expand the vehicle maker’s business in the country, Tesla’s world’s biggest market after the United States.
The ministry said that during the meeting, Musk had described the economies of the United States and China as “conjoined twins”.
Tesla didn’t respond to a BBC request for comment on Musk’s visit to China.
“As tensions rise between Beijing and Washington, Tesla finds itself in a difficult position,” Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush Securities said.
Ives said, “playing nice in the sandbox in China is something Wall Street is laser-focused on to ensure there are no disruptions to Tesla’s expansion within China for the coming years.”
Musk has also been uncharacteristically quiet on Twitter, which he owns and where he has more than 141 million followers.
He is known for tweeting several times a day but, as of midday on Wednesday, hadn’t posted anything since arriving in the country on Tuesday afternoon.
The social media platform is restricted in China but can be accessed through VPNs and Virtual Private Networks.
