China's view on Elon Musk? Visionary, occasional villain

In China, Elon Musk has been the object of love — and occasional loathing. The Tesla boss has been both lauded as a visionary and criticised by Chinese regulators and the public for the alleged bungling of customer complaints. In addition, the dominance of Space X and its Starlink satellite unit has raised the ire of the People’s Liberation Army. As the gap between Tesla and its Chinese EV rivals narrows, Musk is at risk of losing prestige and influence. Musk is now among a group of more than a dozen CEOs and top executives accompanying US President Donald Trump to Beijing for a summit with Xi Jinping, along with Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang. The delegation largely consists of executives seeking to resolve issues with Beijing and the world’s richest man is no stranger to the ups and downs of doing business with China. Responding to reporters on his way out of the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, after a welcome ceremony where he stood behind Trump’s cabinet along with 13 other CEOs, Musk said he wants to accomplish “many good things” in China. A few hours later, images of him spinning on the spot, phone in hand, before the ceremony began, presumably to get a 360-degree shot of the austere surroundings, went viral on Chinese social media as users praised his enthusiasm. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other members of the US delegation stand before the welcome ceremony for US President Donald Trump, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on May 14, 2026. — Reuters While Tesla is being hit by local electric vehicle makers on technology and price, the company — and Musk — remain influential in China. That is in part because Musk’s interests align with those of Beijing, said Kyle Chan, a fellow in Chinese technology at the Brookings Institution. “When you look at Beijing’s tech priorities, many of them line up almost perfectly with Elon Musk’s,” Chan sai