According to the site, which cited two sources with knowledge of the trip, Musk is hoping to visit China "as early as April," though the precise date will depend on Li's availability. They made no mention of Musk's specific goals for the nation or his objectives for the meeting with the prime minister. Tesla, which has a sizable following in China, has not verified the rumored travel arrangements.
According to local media reports, Musk first met Li at the 2019 Shanghai opening of Tesla's "gigafactory," and the two later spoke online, where the CEO praised him for supporting the plant throughout the epidemic. At the time, Li was Shanghai's party secretary and worked on building the plant, the biggest production facility for the business. After the start of Xi Jinping's third term as president, he assumed the position of eighth premier of the State Council of China earlier this month.
Musk has given a number of virtual addresses for events held in China, including the 2021 World Internet Conference, when he pledged to increase Tesla's investments in the nation. Musk's last trip to China was in early 2020, only weeks after the global coronavirus outbreak began.
Although numerous media reports last year claimed that the White House had begun a "national security review" of Musk's international business dealings, the Biden administration later insisted the claims were "not true." US President Joe Biden said Musk's "cooperation and or technical relationships" with foreign powers are "worthy of being looked at," but hastened to add that he was not accusing the entrepreneur of "doing anything inappropriate."
Despite Musk's deepening financial connections with China, the country has expressed reservations about some of his business undertakings. Military researchers have previously called for a means to "destroy" SpaceX's Starlink satellite network if required. A regulation issued immediately after a tense meeting between US and Chinese officials in Alaska in 2021 purportedly forbade Tesla electric cars from entering Chinese military installations because of the cameras they contain.
