Elon Musk Praises 'Economic Prosperity' Achieved By China, Encourages 'People To Visit And See For Themselves'

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO on Wednesday praised the “economic prosperity” and “infrastructure” of China and encouraged everyone to “visit and see" the same "for themselves.”

What Happened:  State-backed media organization China Xinhua News in a tweet on Wednesday quoted Xi Jinping,  claiming the country has reached the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society and is now on way to its second goal of building China into a “great modern” socialist country.

Musk, who has previously lauded China’s energy efforts, replied to the tweet saying “the economic prosperity that China has achieved is truly amazing, especially in infrastructure!”

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

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2021

Musk had in March praised China’s efforts to fight climate change and predicted that the Asian country will be the electric car maker’s largest market in the long term.

See Also: Tesla Fares Worse Than Overall EV Market In April In China, Deliveries Drop 27% Over Previous Month

Why It Matters: Musk’s comments follow intense scrutiny Tesla is facing in China in recent months. China is also a key market for Tesla, contributing nearly 30% of the electric vehicle maker's global sales and is its second-largest market after the United States.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 0.16% lower at $679.70 on Wednesday. 

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Photo by JD Lasica on Flickr