Despite worsening Sino-American relations, Elon Musk plans to visit China in early April to meet with Premier Li Qiang, as reported by Reuters, who cited two sources with direct knowledge of the trip.
Tesla's second-biggest market, after the US, is China, where the company operates a massive factory in Shanghai. The precise timing of the visit hinges on Premier Li Qiang's availability, according to one of the sources.
Musk's previous visit to China occurred in early 2020 when he hosted an event at the Shanghai factory. One year earlier, he met with Qiang, during which Chinese officials praised the billionaire for investments in the country.
Sources gave no reasoning behind why Musk wants to visit China. However, investments in the world's second-largest economy have cratered after several years of disastrous Covid Zero policies decimating manufacturing hubs.
The result of bad Covid policies has led to an exodus of US-based companies rejiggering supply chains outside of China in a move called 'friendshoring.' We have outlined that companies are shifting factories from China to other Southeast Asian countries.
The Chinese could use Musk's future visit to reverse mounting pessimism about doing business in China. After all, Apple's Tim Cook, just days ago, touted his relationship with China.
It is highly likely that the progressive US mainstream media and associated think tanks will portray Musk's future trip to China as a 'national security' concern, given the billionaire's lucrative contracts with the US military and government
