Premier Li Keqiang met with Elon Musk, chief executive officer of the US electric carmaker Tesla, in Beijing on Jan 9.

Premier Li sent congratulations to Tesla on the groundbreaking of a car manufacturing plant in Shanghai, saying it was the first wholly foreign-invested project after foreign equity restrictions were lifted in China in new energy vehicles.

Premier Li Keqiang meets with Elon Musk, chief executive officer of the US electric carmaker Tesla in Beijing on Jan 9, 2018.

The Premier expressed his hope that Tesla would become a participant in China’s reform and opening-up and help promote stable development of China-US relations.

Premier Li discussed with Musk the development of new-energy cars and innovation cooperation in technological and cultural sectors.

He said China will continue to be a promised land of foreign investment and China welcomes foreign enterprises to expand investment.

Musk hailed China’s development speed and efficiency in opening businesses. He said it is hard to imagine finishing all the process of setting up a vehicle factory in such a short time.

Tesla will try its best to build its Shanghai factory into one of the best in the world, and will localize its products based on the Chinese market for win-win results.

He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, was also in attendance.