Tesla's Elon Musk meets Chinese FM in Beijing

BEIJING: Tesla’s Elon Musk met China’s foreign minister Qin Gang in Beijing on Tuesday, the Chinese ministry said in a statement.

Qin told Musk China was “committed to creating a better market-oriented, rule-of-law-based and internationalised business environment” for foreign enterprises, according to the statement.

Musk’s visit is the first to China since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

His electric vehicle company announced in April it would build a new battery factory in Shanghai.

The plant will be Tesla’s second factory in the financial hub after its massive Gigafactory, which broke ground in 2019.

Musk’s ties to China have raised eyebrows in Washington, with US President Joe Biden saying in November the executive’s links to foreign countries were “worthy” of scrutiny.

Musk told Qin at their meeting on Tuesday that Tesla was willing to expand its business in the country, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.