Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla, met with China's foreign minister shortly after he flew to Beijing for his first visit since 2020. The Korea Times writes about it.

 Musk, the world's second-richest person, arrived in Beijing on a private jet owned by his Tesla company.

 The visit follows growing competition Tesla is currently facing from Chinese-made electric vehicles and some reports of uncertainty over plans to expand its Shanghai factory.

 "China will continue to promote openness at a high level and is committed to creating a more market-oriented, legalized and internationalized business environment for companies from all over the world, including Tesla," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a published statement.

 Musk, in turn, said that the interests of the United States and China "intertwine like Siamese twins."

 "Tesla opposes unbundling and chain-breaking and is willing to continue to expand its business in China and share China's development opportunities," he said.

 The battery factory, announced in April, will be Tesla's second factory in Shanghai, following the Gigafactory that opened in 2019.

 Tesla has succeeded after years of losses, setting impressive profit records. The company also acted as a major catalyst for the transportation revolution, with most of the automotive sector's innovation efforts shifting from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.

 Even with this success, Musk has fallen short of some of his grandiose goals. Tesla reported a drop in profit in the first quarter of this year as the company made a series of price cuts amid competition from other automakers. Tesla's cheapest car, the Model 3, costs more than $40,000 in the US.

 And while Tesla remains the world's largest seller of electric cars, the popularity of Chinese brands has grown dramatically in recent years.

 The biggest of these, BYD, saw profits rise fivefold in the first quarter thanks to global demand for its cars and buses.