Tesla CEO Elon Musk will attend the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, where the U.S. firm's $5 billion Gigafactory is under construction, a move which shows the U.S. company's eagerness to tap into the huge Chinese market despite the ongoing trade war.
Musk and Raj Reddy, winner of the Turing Award, have confirmed their attendance in August, domestic news outlet thepaper.cn reported Tuesday, citing the Shanghai Information Office.
Some Chinese netizens hailed Musk's decision to visit China again, predicting that Tesla will begin mass production in its Shanghai factory at that time, while some raised concerns over rising tensions that the prominent entrepreneur might face in August amid the escalating China-U.S. trade war.
Musk visited China in January to break ground on its Shanghai Gigafactory.
"The Chinese market is the one Tesla will bet more on since the U.S. market has shown some sluggish growth, and for firms like Tesla, they will stick to their own pace to make a larger footprint in China despite the ongoing trade war," said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.
Cui told the Global Times on Tuesday that Musk's attendance shows the U.S. firm is seizing on opportunities to promote its localization strategy in China to woo Chinese consumers.
Tesla is building the Shanghai factory at an incredible speed.
The building is almost complete and the automaker is already installing production equipment, auto news website Eelectrek reported Sunday.
The first phase for Gigafactory 3 will wrap up this summer and production will begin on the Model 3 by the end of the year, Musk said.
China is still Tesla's second-largest market after the U.S., yet it is expected to surpass the latter within five years, said Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight.
"Local production of the Model 3 is likely to boost Tesla's sales if its pricing strategy works out," Zhang told the Global Times Tuesday.
Musk's attendance at the Shanghai event also proves the strength of China's AI sector, experts said.
The city announced Tuesday it would roll out its major AI industry program development. There are over 1,000 core AI firms in Shanghai, media reports said.
