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Top Beijing official urges Elon Musk to deepen ties with China

Han -- who is set to attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump later on Monday -- met with Musk and other American business representatives on Sunday, Xinhua said.

AFP
Beijing
Mon, January 20, 2025

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Top Beijing official urges Elon Musk to deepen ties with China Newly elected Vice Premiers Sun Chunlan (2nd left), Liu He (3rd left), and state councillors Wang Yong (2nd right), Xiao Jie (right), led by Vice Premier Han Zheng (left), take an oath after being elected during the seventh plenary session of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 19, 2018. (Agence France-Presse/Fred Dufour)

C

hinese Vice President Han Zheng met with tech tycoon Elon Musk and urged US firms to "seize the opportunity" to deepen economic ties with China, Beijing's state media said Monday.

Han -- who is set to attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump later on Monday -- met with Musk and other American business representatives on Sunday, Xinhua said.

The world's richest person, Tesla and SpaceX CEO and majority owner of X has become one of Trump's closest allies, sharing his hard-right politics and putting millions of dollars into supporting his presidential campaign.

Musk also enjoys a cult following in China, a major market for Tesla, where the company has one of its so-called gigafactories and is trying to compete with fast-growing home-grown manufacturers.

Speaking to Musk on Sunday, Han urged Tesla and other US firms to "seize the opportunity and share in the fruits of China's development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-US economic and trade relations", according to Xinhua. 

Musk, in turn, said Tesla was keen "to deepen investment cooperation with China" as well as play an "active role" in trade between the two countries, Xinhua reported.

Trump in his election campaign threatened China and other US trading partners with new tariffs, but he has also said he is open to talks with President Xi Jinping, a leader he has long openly admired.

The two spoke by phone on Friday, with both leaders vowing to improve ties between the rival countries.

Han also met Sunday with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Xinhua said.

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