It’s a busy week in China as some of the biggest names in American business are in town – Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan have all gone overseas.
Dimon, who is there for the three-day JPMorgan summit in Shanghai, hopes his visit will help smooth things over after he made a joke in 2021 that his company would stand up to the Chinese Communist Party.
“You’re not going to fix this stuff if you’re just sitting across the Pacific screaming at each other. So I hope we’ll have a real engagement,” he said at the conference this week.
Narasimhan is also located in Shanghai for business meetings And he announced that he’s doubling down on plans to open another 2,800 locations in China by the end of 2025, in hopes of the country becoming the coffee chain’s largest market.
But all eyes were on Musk, who arrived in style via private jet in Beijing on Tuesday before heading to Shanghai on Wednesday to inspect a Tesla factory and meet staff there, according to The Guardian. Reuters.
Musk is visiting the country for the first time in three years after pandemic-era restrictions hampered travel to the country, and fans are thrilled to see him.
Reuters It also reported that Musk is being called a “global idol” and “Brother Ma,” a reference to the famous Chinese billionaire and businessman Jack Ma who co-founded Alibaba..
Chinese social media Weibo and blogs display what appears to be a menu intended for dinner, along with the arrival of Musk, who is seen entering the building with Chinese billionaire Zeng Yuqun, founder of contemporary battery manufacturer Amperex Technology.
Musk and Yuqun in Shanghai this week via Weibo
The menu at Man Fu Yan proudly displays the Tesla logo, featuring 16 courses and honoring the electric car company it calls “a dark horse, which stands out from traditional car companies and makes remarkable achievements.”
Musk Shanghai dinner menu via Weibo
Tesla, which opened its giant factory in Shanghai in 2018, is scheduled to start building a battery factory at the same site by the third quarter of 2023, with production expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2024.
Tesla’s Megapack, a rechargeable battery energy storage device used in battery storage stations, will be primarily produced at the new facility.
Musk has not posted on social media about his overseas visit.
