Tesla CEO Elon Musk embarked on a surprise visit to China on Sunday, as reported by news agency Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter. China is the second-largest market for the electric vehicle giant.
Musk’s trip to China follows the postponement of his visit to India last week due to ‘Tesla obligations.’ The original plan was for him to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announce Tesla’s entry into the Indian market.
During his visit to China, Musk aims to meet with senior Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the rollout of Full-Self Driving (FSD) software in China. He also seeks approval to transfer data collected in China abroad to train algorithms for Tesla’s autonomous driving technologies, according to Reuters.
Responding to a query on the social media platform X, Musk mentioned that Tesla may introduce FSD to customers in China “very soon.” However, Musk’s visit to China was not widely publicized.
Since 2021, Tesla has stored all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai, complying with Chinese regulations. The company has not transferred any data back to the United States.
Despite customers’ requests, Tesla has not yet made FSD available in China. FSD is the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, introduced four years ago.