Elon Musk meets with the Chinese Premier and declares all cars will be electric in the future.

Elon Musk arrived in Beijing for an unannounced visit to discuss Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and data transfer permission with senior Chinese officials. During his visit, he met with Premier Li Qiang, who praised Tesla’s development in China as a successful example of US-China economic cooperation.

Musk confirmed and posted about his meeting with Premier Li Qiang on social media, also noting that Tesla and China had known each other for many years since establishing a plant in Shanghai in 2018. Although Tesla has yet to make FSD available in China, Musk indicated that it may be offered to customers “very soon.”

This move follows pressure from Chinese customers and competition from local automakers like Xpeng. Musk also seeks approval to transfer data collected in China abroad to train algorithms for autonomous driving technology.

Furthermore, during his visit, Musk met with Ren Hongbin, a government official, and expressed positive sentiments about the progress of electric vehicles in China. His trip coincides with the Beijing auto show, where Tesla does not have a booth this year.

Meanwhile, GM CEO Mary Barra also made an unannounced visit to the auto show. This visit comes after Musk canceled a planned trip to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing Tesla obligations.

Tesla recently announced a 10% global workforce layoff and faces scrutiny from US auto safety regulators regarding the adequacy of its December recall to install new Autopilot safeguards following crashes. Elon Musk also mentioned Tesla’s future plans, including introducing new, cheaper models using its current EV platforms, and unveiling a new “robotaxi” with self-driving technology on August 8.

Despite concerns about Tesla’s growth trajectory, Musk remains optimistic about the company’s future and its leadership in autonomous driving technologies. The original story was not edited by NDTV and is published from a syndicated feed.