Tesla Inc. recently took part in China’s World Internet Conference event, where CEO Elon Musk spoke about Tesla’s commitment to invest and expand their operations despite unprecedented economic turbulence.
The summit was inaugurated by the Chinese premier XI Jinping who committed to ensuring that China will cooperate with all countries. It will increase its effectiveness of supervision to create a vibrant digital economy. The event was hosted in Wuzhen, an artificial water town. This event was the eighth edition of the series launched in 2014 with plenty of fanfare to mark China’s internet foray globally.
This event also saw the participation of Intel Corp., led by its recently appointed CEO, Pat Gelsinger, and Qualcomm Inc., led by Cristiano Amon. The participation of U.S. tech biggies alongside domestic giants Alibaba Group and Xiaomi Corp. could bring about some normalcy that was preceded by an 11-month campaign to check big tech companies.
As per Elon Musk, who spoke through video, Tesla has set up a first-of-its-kind data center in China where it will localize all types of data generated from the business. These data include information on production, charging, sales, and service. Musk was appreciative of the new laws aimed at strengthening data management and believes that Data protection is not a standalone issue but encompasses all industry players.
In ten days, Musk has praised China’s credential twice as a global leader in digitalization. He added that Tesla would continue its investment expansion in China and contribute towards building a digital future that will incorporate shared responsibility, governance, and benefits.
Christiano Amon commended China’s 5G rollout while mentioning many relationships Qualcomm had developed with Chinese device makers. He urged that companies from the U.S. and China should work together often. CEO Chuck Robbins of Cisco Systems Inc. spoke about aligning with President Xi’s vision for a shared cyberspace internet community for global benefit.
China’s collaborative tone with international players was in sharp contrast to the domestic upheaval recently with crackdowns on big domestic internet companies like Alibaba, Ant Group, Tencent Holdings, and Didi Global Inc.
Beijing’s new mandates were aimed at areas that included online gaming, entertainment and finance, and eCommerce. Beijing wants the youth to spend their time more productively and rein in the unruly internet spheres. Tech billionaires that included Jack Ma of Alibaba to Wang Xing, founder of Meituan and Cheng Wei of Didi’s, have been noticed, leading to heightened uncertainty. The series of new laws have affected their earnings with warnings by regulators to others against speaking out.
CEO of Alibaba Daniel Zhang said via video message, “Platform companies” must ensure corporate management, data security, and user privacy protection to allay the fears of the public and government. Zhang stressed that platform companies could be more inclusive and standardized and allow more SMEs to participate.
Among the handful of U.S. companies with ambitions to expand their business in China are Tesla, Qualcomm, and Intel. With China the world’s biggest electric vehicles and smartphones market, these U.S. companies see great potential in acquiring new customers in this region. Presently, Intel is already expanding its investment in data center and cloud services infrastructure. At the same time, Qualcomm processors are predominantly used in Chinese Smartphones.
