Elon Musk is part of a delegation of more than a dozen North American CEOs – among them, Tim Cook (Apple) and Jensen Huang (Nvidia) – which accompanies US President Donald Trump in a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijingthis Thursday (14).
The billionaire, who seeks to resolve commercial issues and expand the company’s operations Tesla and SpaceX in China, he said he wanted to do “many good things” in the Asian country as he left a welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People.
The visit takes place in a moment of duality. Musk seeks approval for the system Full Self-Driving and negotiates the purchase of US$ 2.9 billion (approximately R$ 14 billion) on solar panel equipment from local suppliers. But the businessman is monitored carefully.
If on the one hand the billionaire is called “global idol” on Weibo (Chinese social network similar to X/Twitter), on the other, the People’s Liberation Army sees the dominance of the network Starlink as a threat that motivates the creation of Asian alternatives.
“When you look at Beijing’s technology priorities, many of them align almost perfectly with Elon Musk’s”said Kyle Chan, a Chinese technology researcher at the Brookings Institution, the Reuters.
The expert points out that mutual interest covers cutting-edge sectors such as autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), humanoid robots and brain-computer interfaces, as well as satellite technology.
In the automotive sector, Tesla has consolidated itself as the fifth largest manufacturer of electric and plug-in hybrids in China, with 626 thousand units sold in 2025.
This performance is vital to Musk’s business. This is because the Chinese market accounts for approximately 20% of global revenue of the automaker. And it provides supply infrastructure essential to sustaining its industrial empire.
“Tesla is definitely one of the biggest inspirations for many Chinese car manufacturers,” said analyst Felipe Munoz. According to him, Chinese companies have dedicated themselves to study the brand’s cars in detail to create your own versions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Researchers at a university linked to the Chinese army fear that Starlink satellites will be used in hostilities in Asia – Image: daily_creativity/ShutterstockHowever, space sovereignty fractures Musk’s relationship with the Chinese government, especially due to SpaceX’s role in international conflicts.
“The excellent performance of (the) Starlink satellites in this Russian-Ukrainian conflict will certainly lead the US and Western countries to use Starlink extensively” in possible hostilities in Asia, describes a 2022 article produced by researchers at an engineering university linked to the Chinese military.
The future of Musk’s prestige in the country now depends on the speed of innovation of domestic brands, which threaten his market dominance.
“As Chinese companies catch up to or even surpass Elon Musk’s technological empire, their stature in China may begin to diminish,” says Chang Yan, founder of the blog Supercharged. However, he considers that the entrepreneur can continue to be a icon for the technology industry for his historic achievements.
Source: www.olhardigital.com.br
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