China has always been welcoming visits by business people from various countries, including Mr. Musk, to better understand China and promote mutually beneficial cooperation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed its welcome as Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has just arrived in China.

China has always been welcoming visits by business people from various countries, including Mr. Musk, to better understand China and promote mutually beneficial cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing held today.

China is firmly pushing forward a high level of opening up to the outside world and is committed to creating a market-oriented, rule of law and international business environment, Mao said.

China is happy to see foreign companies invest and set up businesses in China, deepen their involvement in the Chinese market and share development opportunities, she said.

Earlier today, a Reuters witness said a private jet used by Musk had arrived in Beijing.

Musk's private jet, a 2015 Gulfstream G650ER, was shown leaving Alaska on Tuesday morning Asian time and then crossing over Japan and South Korea, the report noted.

The witnesses for Reuters said the plane with its identifying tail number could be seen at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday.

Musk is expected to meet with senior Chinese officials and tour Tesla's Shanghai factory in what is his first trip to China in three years.

The Tesla CEO last visited China in January 2020, when he showed off a dance during the delivery of Tesla's first China-made Model 3 vehicles.

China is Tesla's second-largest market after the United States, and its Shanghai plant is the electric vehicle maker's largest production center, producing the Model 3 sedan as well as the Model Y crossover.

For all of 2022, the Chinese market contributed $18.1 billion in revenue to Tesla, or 22 percent of its $81.5 billion in total revenue, according to its 10-K filing with the SEC on January 31.

The US market contributed $40.6 billion, or 49.8 percent, of Tesla's revenue in 2022.

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