“Comrade Musk” Takes China by Storm: Fans Cheer Billionaire’s Visit and Tesla’s Rise as Status Symbol

AFP

In China, the visit of “Comrade Musk” arouses enthusiasm

He’s certainly controversial in the West, but in China he’s a superstar: Elon Musk, boss of US electric car maker Tesla, was hailed as ‘Comrade Musk’ by his fans during his visit to the country this week .In the world’s second largest economy, owning a Tesla car has become the social marker of the middle class in recent years.And the economic success of the 51-year-old American billionaire also arouses admiration.Zhu Qi, owner of a Tesla in the city ​​of Changsha (center), does not hesitate to say it: she “venerates” Elon Musk for his “great personal charm and his constant excellence in his field” according to her. “China is not yet very open.. . so that people like him come and share some of their knowledge with us, I think it’s something important, from which our country and our leaders can draw inspiration,” the professor told AFP. 33-year-old college student. But “because of our exam-focused education system, I think it’s difficult for China to produce someone like Musk, who has achieved global leader status on the basis of his personal interests. Arrived Tuesday in Beijing before joining Shanghai Wednesday evening, Elon Musk, also boss of the social network Twitter (inaccessible in the Asian country), made his first visit to China in more than three years, taking advantage of the anti-Covid restrictions lifted.- ‘Brother Horse’-Chinese social media enthusiastically followed every minute of his stay, with posts on Weibo – similar to Twitter – racking up billions of views. Elon Musk was welcomed almost to the image of a foreign political leader, meeting in Beijing with several members of the government, to whom he praised the “vitality” of Chinese development. In Shanghai, he visited the Gigafactory assembly site, inaugurated by Tesla in 2019 , according to images posted on Weibo by Grace Tao, the group’s public relations officer in the country. His jet finally took off from China on Thursday morning. Photos from his welcome dinner on Tuesday – including 16 different dishes including seafood, lamb from New Zealand and traditional noodles from Beijing, with soybean paste – quickly went viral. first character of his name in Chinese. “For Musk, there are no countries on this planet, only markets… to sell his wares”, underlined one of them. “It’s exactly the kind of borderless capitalism he predicted.” – “Overtime” – Some took the opportunity to make fun of the United States, at a time when relations between the two countries are particularly tense. Elon Musk “is apparently the only American welcome in China,” noted a user on Weibo. “Biden must be wondering why China is declining invitations to meet with senior US officials, but rolling out the red carpet for Musk,” another joked. A meme circulating on the platform this week showed a “Comrade Musk” at the statesmanlike appearance, standing behind a podium flanked by Chinese flags, while costumed officials cheered in the background. But not everyone in China succumbed to Elon Musk’s charm. , some noted that the photos of his visit to the Shanghai factory, where he poses surrounded by hundreds of employees, were posted at … half past midnight. In recent years, more and more workers in the sector tech experts rightly criticized the long hours and the high level of stress to which they are subjected. “You’re all working overtime tonight, huh?” asked another.bur-mjw-ka/fal/clc