A senior Chinese official meets with Elon Musk as Trump starts his second term.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, serving as a special envoy for President Xi Jinping, met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Washington, D.C., on January 19, 2025. Credit: Xinhua/Yin Bogu
On January 19, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng urged American businesses to play a role in enhancing trade relations between the two competing nations during his meeting with Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and a member of Trump's incoming administration. Importance: This meeting took place just a day before Donald Trump was set to take office for his second term as U.S. President on Monday at the U.S. Capitol. Han, who represented China at Trump’s inauguration, also took the opportunity to meet with the new U.S. Vice President JD Vance and various business leaders from American firms like FedEx and Visa, according to a report from Bloomberg. Details: Han expressed that China "welcomed U.S. companies, including Tesla, to take advantage of the opportunities, share the benefits of China's development, and contribute more significantly to the strengthening of economic and trade relations between China and the U.S.," as reported by Xinhua News Agency on Monday. Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, remarked that Tesla is prepared to increase its investments and cooperation in China, thereby positively impacting U.S.-China trade relations. The billionaire expressed his concerns on platform X after the meeting about the ban on X in China while TikTok is permitted to operate in the U.S., describing it as an "unbalanced" situation and asserting that "something needs to change." Context: As Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 47th president of the U.S., there is a global shift toward clean energy and electric vehicles, providing China with increased trading advantages. On Monday, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, reinforcing the focus on fossil fuels and reversing America's commitments to climate change policies and the promotion of clean energy solutions. His transition team is considering measures to reduce support for electric vehicles and charging stations, including the potential elimination of the Biden administration's $7,500 tax credit for consumers purchasing electric vehicles, as reported by Reuters.
Jill Shen is a technology reporter based in Shanghai, specializing in Chinese mobility, autonomous vehicles, and electric cars. You can reach her via email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jill_shen_sh. More from Jill Shen.
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