Tesla clears key regulatory hurdles for self-driving in China during Musk's visit
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Tesla has cleared some key regulatory hurdles that have long hindered it from rolling out its self-driving software in China, paving the way for a favourable result from Elon Musk's surprise visit to the U.S. automaker's second largest market.
Tesla CEO Musk arrived in the Chinese capital on Sunday where he was expected to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and permission to transfer driving data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The billionaire's whirlwind visit, during which he met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, came just over a week after he scrapped a planned trip to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing "very heavy Tesla obligations".
On Monday, two separate sources told Reuters Tesla had reached an agreement with Baidu to use the Chinese tech giant's mapping license for data collection on China's public roads, which they described as a key step for FSD to be introduced in the country. And a top Chinese auto association said on Sunday Tesla's Model 3 and Y cars were among models that it had tested and found to be compliant with China's data security requiremnts.
Data security and compliance have been key reasons why the U.S. electric vehicle maker, which rolled out the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software four years ago, has yet to make FSD available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customer demand.
Chinese regulators had since 2021 required Tesla to store all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai, leaving the company unable to transfer any back to the United States.
Musk is looking to obtain approval to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms for its autonomous driving technologies, the person said.
Premier Li on Sunday praised Tesla's development in China as a successful example of U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation.
Besides meeting Li on the short trip to Beijing, Musk met the organiser of the ongoing Beijing auto show. The chairman of Chinese battery giant CATL (300750.SZ), opens new tab Robin Zeng, a key Tesla battery supplier, also visited Musk's hotel on Monday, according to a Reuters witness. Reuters could not immediately confirm with CATL if Zeng met with Musk.
Ref: Tesla clears key regulatory hurdles for self-driving in China during Musk's visit (reuters)
