Elon Musk called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “great leader” in interviews with Chinese state media Wednesday, one day before he is expected to join tech executives at a White House state dinner for Xi and President Donald Trump. Speaking to CGTN, Musk said China had “prospered immensely” under Xi’s tenure, adding that he had “really done an excellent job.”
Musk also called for lower tariffs and fewer trade restrictions between Washington and Beijing. He said a “really important thing” would be for the two countries to agree on a shared platform for regulating AI.
In an interview with CCTV, Musk praised China’s manufacturing expertise and credited it for what he called the “magic of Tesla Shanghai.” He described the Shanghai Gigafactory as a “gem” and credited its success to the Chinese team. The plant delivered nearly 468,000 vehicles in the first half of 2026, up 28.4 percent from a year earlier, and has produced more than 4.5 million vehicles since late 2019, about 45 percent of Tesla’s total output. During the first half of the year, its exports exceeded domestic deliveries for the first time.
China remains central to Tesla’s business. The Shanghai Gigafactory is the company’s highest-volume plant, supplying domestic buyers and markets across Asia-Pacific and Europe. Tesla has also expanded its energy business in China, reaching 1,000 Megapacks produced at its Shanghai Megafactory and doubling that factory’s output in just five months.
The comments reflect Tesla’s long relationship with Beijing, which allowed the company to open Gigafactory Shanghai without a local partner, a first for a foreign automaker. Tesla has also started auditing Chinese suppliers as its Optimus humanoid robot enters a mass production push, while the Shanghai plant continues to set production milestones, most recently assembling its six millionth battery pack.
Musk told CCTV he expects at least one billion humanoid robots within a decade and as many as 100 billion within 20 years, as trade and AI oversight sit on the agenda at Thursday’s state dinner.
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