Days After Chinese Regulators Recalled Tesla Cars For Technical Issues, Elon Musk Heaps Praise On China's Economic Prosperity And Infrastructure

Tesla CEO Elon Musk profusely praised China’s economic development and infrastructure as the country today celebrated hundred years of communist part rule.

Billionaire businessman tweeted "the economic prosperity that China has achieved is truly amazing, especially in infrastructure! I encourage people to visit and see for themselves."

Musk also posted the same message on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, where he has nearly 1.8 million followers.

Musk tweeted in praise in response to a post on Twitter by China’s state news agency Xinhua that featured a snippet of Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s speech celebrating the Communist Party’s 100th anniversary on Thursday morning.

Musk's tweet heaping praising China comes five days after the US electric carmaker announced that it would recall all of the vehicles it had manufactured at its Shanghai factory since the beginning of 2020, amid concerns over safety. Nearly all of the vehicles Tesla had built and sold in China (close to 285000) were recalled by regulators over concerns about the cruise control system.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said the cruise control could be mistakenly switched on when drivers attempted to change gears, potentially causing the car to accelerate unexpectedly.

While Tesla earns almost a third of its sales in China, it faces increasing competition from local players including Geely, Nio and Xpeng.

In March this year, Musk gave an interview to state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), heaping praise on the Chinese government and saying that it would "become the biggest economy in the world."

Musk has often forecasted that China, currently the world's biggest car market would eventually become Tesla's most important.