A setback for Tesla in China
![](https://thechinaproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/tesla-china-factory.jpg)
Tesla, America’s biggest electric car manufacturer, “is in danger of being relegated to an expensive niche in China because Elon Musk can’t clinch a deal to open a factory there,” according to Bloomberg.
- In June 2017, Tesla signed a preliminary agreement with the Shanghai government to establish a factory to “ensure affordability,” hoping that local plants could cut prices of Tesla vehicles in China by a third.
- However, the two sides have not agreed on the ownership structure of the factory: According to Bloomberg sources, Tesla wants a wholly owned company, but the central government says it must be a joint venture with local partners.
- In 2017, Tesla sold 14,883 vehicles in China, a mere 3 percent of the country’s total electric car sales of 449,431 units.
- “Tesla has no strategic path… It has the halo of Elon Musk, and its products are slightly ahead of the competitors, but the others — especially the Chinese EV startups — are catching up rapidly,” according to an auto industry analyst quoted by Bloomberg.
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
China’s massive investment in artificial intelligence has an insidious downside / Science
An excellent roundup of recent developments in AI in China. - U.S.-China trade tiffs
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China banks back in vogue as share prices rally / Financial Times (paywall) - Ecommerce and logistics
JD.com’s logistics business raises $2.5B from Hillhouse, Sequoia China and others / TechCrunch - Big oil
Russia may invest in Saudi Aramco IPO via fund with China / Bloomberg