Musk Urges World to Visit China as Tesla Exit Talk Swirls

'China Is Awesome': Musk's Message to the World

TOKYO — Elon Musk has delivered one of his most direct endorsements of China in years, writing on X on August 10 that "China is awesome. I strongly encourage people to visit." The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive's two-sentence post landed as a pointed rebuttal to an ARK Invest podcast titled "Tesla May Not Need China Anymore," and it quickly drew support from his mother, Maye Musk, who said she feels safe traveling in the country.

For Japanese readers watching the world's largest electric vehicle market, the exchange is more than celebrity chatter. It is a window into how Tesla — and by extension the global auto industry — is navigating a China market that remains strategically vital even as competition intensifies and Washington-Beijing tensions complicate corporate planning. It also arrives at a moment when Beijing is actively courting foreign visitors and investment, and when Tesla's own commitment to China is the subject of intense speculation.

Tags: Elon Musk, Tesla China, China tourism, visa-free travel, ARK Invest, Chinese EV market, Maye Musk, inbound tourism, Shanghai

The ARK Invest Provocation Behind the Post

Musk's praise came in response to a podcast produced by ARK Invest, the investment firm led by Cathie Wood and historically one of Tesla's most prominent long-term bulls. The episode, titled "Tesla May Not Need China Anymore," explored scenarios including a potential China merger, merger timing, AI costs, market winners and what ARK terms Tesla's "physical premium" — shorthand for the company's edge in physical products such as EVs and humanoid robots.

Rather than engage the thesis point by point, Musk's public answer was an invitation: visit China and see for yourself. CGTN, the state broadcaster that reported the exchange, noted that his praise for the country "spoke louder than any rebuttal." The episode is a notable turn for ARK, which for years argued that Tesla's China operations were a core pillar of its growth story; its willingness to model a China-free Tesla reflects how quickly the market's competitive dynamics have shifted.

The exchange also fits a pattern: Musk increasingly uses his personal X account, with a following of more than 200 million, to shape the narrative around his companies' China exposure in real time, often pre-empting or rebutting analyst commentary before it hardens into conventional wisdom.

Musk and China: A Long, Lucrative Relationship

Musk's ties to China date back more than a decade. He has traveled to the country since 2014, most recently in May 2026, when he met with senior officials in Beijing. The cornerstone of that relationship is Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai, which began production in late 2019 and became the company's highest-volume plant — the first wholly foreign-owned vehicle factory in China, a concession Beijing granted as it opened its auto sector to global manufacturers.

The Shanghai plant has been both an engine and a barometer for Tesla. It exports vehicles across Asia and Europe and anchors Tesla's position in China, the world's largest EV market, where the company once commanded a dominant share of premium EV sales. That position is now under sustained pressure: China's overall EV sales have declined for seven consecutive months as a bruising price war, led by domestic champions such as BYD, squeezes margins across the industry. Tesla has responded this year with price cuts and financing incentives, and its Shanghai-made models remain among the best-selling EVs in the country.

For Japanese automakers, Tesla's Shanghai operation has served as a benchmark of how aggressively a foreign player can localize in China — and a warning about how quickly local competitors can erode that advantage.

The Sale Speculation Musk Calls 'Fake News'

The ARK Invest episode did not emerge in a vacuum. On July 31, The Wall Street Journal reported that some Tesla executives had been told to prepare for a possible separation of the China business — with options including a spinoff, a sale or closure — ahead of a potential merger with SpaceX. The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said advisers had discussed the scenarios partly over geopolitical concerns.

Musk dismissed the report as "fake news" on X, and Reuters carried his denial. The August 10 "China is awesome" post reads as a continuation of that pushback: a public signal, directed at investors, customers and Beijing alike, that Tesla is not preparing to walk away from its second-largest market. A sale or closure of the Shanghai plant would be unprecedented in scale — the facility is one of the largest auto plants in the world and a pillar of Shanghai's manufacturing base — and would carry enormous reputational and regulatory consequences for any Musk-led company.

The episode underscores how sensitive China exposure has become for global carmakers. Toyota, Honda and Nissan all compete with Tesla and domestic Chinese brands in the same market, and each has had to weigh geopolitical risk against commercial opportunity in China. Musk's handling of the speculation offers a case study in how a chief executive can use personal messaging to stabilize confidence in a market where corporate silence is easily misread.

Maye Musk and a Record Wave of Visa-Free Travelers

Maye Musk amplified her son's message with a personal endorsement. "I agree. Each city has its own charm with different cultural sites to see. Buildings and streets are clean and in good repair," she wrote on X. "Also, people are polite, hard-working, and respectful. I feel safe, so I enjoy going to China." She speaks from experience: the elder Musk has toured multiple Chinese cities extensively in recent years.

The enthusiasm is backed by numbers. China recorded 17.8 million visa-free entries by foreign nationals in the first half of 2026, up 30.6 percent year on year and accounting for 77.7 percent of all foreign arrivals, according to the National Immigration Administration. Overall, border inspection agencies handled a record 369 million inbound and outbound crossings in the period, up 10.8 percent from a year earlier.

The visa-free push, which has expanded steadily since 2023, now covers dozens of countries — including Japan, whose passport holders regained visa-free access to China in late 2024 — plus transit arrangements allowing stays of up to 10 days for travelers from many other nations. Beijing has framed the policy as part of a broader effort to revive inbound tourism, attract foreign business and project openness at a time of strained relations with several Western governments.

Soft Power and Shifting Global Perceptions

The Musk exchange lands amid measurable improvement in how the world views China. A Pew Research Center survey released on July 15 found that growing shares of people in many countries see China favorably and express confidence in President Xi Jinping, a rebound from pandemic-era lows. In a companion finding, Pew said people in many countries now view China more positively than the United States. The survey cautioned, however, that opinions remain much less positive in wealthier nations — including the United States and Japan.

China's tourism drive is designed, in part, to close that gap through direct experience. The theory, echoed by Chinese officials and state media, is that foreign visitors who see Chinese cities firsthand become de facto ambassadors for a more nuanced view of the country. Musk's celebrity endorsement amplifies that message to an audience no government campaign could reach, which is why CGTN moved quickly to package his posts — and his mother's — as a tourism testimonial.

For Japan, the dynamic is double-edged. Improved perceptions of China are not necessarily a loss for Tokyo, but the two countries are competing for many of the same international visitors and business travelers. Beijing's visa-free expansion has already drawn Japanese tourists back in large numbers, and any sustained improvement in China's global image complicates the narrative space that Japanese policymakers and media have long occupied in framing China's rise.

What to Watch For: Tesla, Tokyo and the Tourism Race

Several threads bear watching from a Japan perspective. First, Tesla's China strategy: whether the company maintains or expands Shanghai output through the current price war, and whether any SpaceX merger actually materializes — a development that would reshape Musk's corporate structure and, with it, the future of Tesla China. Second, the tourism race: China's visa-free expansion competes directly with Japan's own inbound-tourism push, and both governments are watching each other's policies closely as they court visitors from the same markets.

Third, the perception gap: Pew's finding that wealthier nations remain cooler toward China suggests that celebrity endorsements and tourism numbers alone will not reshape opinion in Japan or the United States. What they can do is create a more informed baseline — more Japanese travelers, businesspeople and students with firsthand experience of Chinese cities, and a China story that is not reducible to geopolitics alone.

For Japanese businesses and travelers, the Musk episode is a reminder that China's market and its message are both evolving. The world's largest EV market is still the prize Tesla cannot afford to quit — and the world's most visible CEO just told everyone to come see it. Whether the invitation converts into sales, tourists and softer perceptions will be one of the more interesting economic storylines of the second half of 2026.

By Kenji Tanaka, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: CGTN, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Xinhua, National Immigration Administration, Pew Research Center.