The billionaire said this during a meeting with Ren Hongbin, the Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) on Sunday.
“I’m a big fan of China. I have to say that,” Musk was heard saying in a now widely shared video on X.
“I also have a lot of fans in China, well the feelings are reciprocated,” he added.
Musk made an “unannounced and surprising” visit to Beijing on Sunday, where he also met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
“We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days,” said Musk in a post on X.com along with a picture with Qiang.
“Tesla’s business in China is a successful example of Sino-American economic and trade cooperation,” Premier Li Qiang was quoted as saying by CCTV News.
Lauding the hard work and wisdom of the Chinese, Musk said: “Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory is the company’s best-performing one. Tesla is willing to further deepen cooperation with the Chinese side to achieve more win-win results.”
Meanwhile, Musk’s visit has also raised hopes for bringing Tesla’s autopilot and supervised full self-driving (FSD) technology to China, known to be the Electric Vehicle maker’s second-biggest market.
Musk was earlier, this month, expected to visit India, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, the tech billionaire scrapped the plan amid crucial Tesla quarterly results and will possibly visit the country later this year to announce his investment plans.
When asked by a user “Why he didn’t visit India first?” Musk replied, “I meet with more foreign leaders than our sitting President”.
IANS