No details of what the pair discussed were made public. However, footage released by China’s state broadcaster showed the premier hailing Tesla as a “successful example of Sino-American economic and trade cooperation”.
Mr Musk is reportedly seeking permission to move driving data collected by his company in China out of the country so it can be processed in the US, where Tesla keeps its most sensitive and cutting-edge autonomous driving technology.
This would allow Tesla to better train its “autopilot” driverless car software, potentially meaning it could deploy the “full self-driving” version for use in China.
At the moment Chinese laws forbid domestic data being transferred out of the country and full self-driving autopilot has not been enabled there.
Removing this barrier is seen as a vital step for Tesla, given China is the company’s second-biggest market, and that it is being outflanked by Chinese rivals that have already rolled out their own competitor softwares.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said: “If Musk is able to obtain approval from Beijing to transfer data collected in China abroad this would be a game changer.
“We also believe this trip will be significant for Tesla and Musk, further strengthening its EV footprint within the Chinese market at a pivotal time.”
