BEIJING: Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with tech tycoon Elon Musk and urged US firms to “seize the opportunity” to deepen economic ties with China, Beijing’s state media said on Monday.

Han — who is set to attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump later on Monday — met with Musk and other American business representatives on Sunday, Xinhua said.

The world’s richest person, Tesla and SpaceX CEO and majority owner of X has become one of Trump’s closest allies, sharing his hard-right politics and putting millions of dollars into supporting his presidential campaign.

Musk also enjoys a cult following in China, a major market for Tesla, where the company has one of its so-called gigafactories and is trying to compete with fast-growing home-grown manufacturers. Speaking to Musk on Sunday, Han urged Tesla and other US firms to “seize the opportunity and share in the fruits of China’s development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-US economic and trade relations”, according to Xinhua.

Musk, in turn, said Tesla was keen “to deepen investment cooperation with China” as well as play an “active role” in trade between the two countries, Xinhua reported. Trump in his election campaign threatened China and other US trading partners with new tariffs, but he has also said he is open to talks with President Xi Jinping, a leader he has long openly admired.

The two spoke by phone on Friday, with both leaders vowing to improve ties between the rival countries. Han also met on Sunday with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Xinhua said.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2025