Tesla shares spike 15% as Elon Musk wins approval for full self-driving rollout in China

Tesla shares surged 15% on Monday after CEO Elon Musk secured apಞproval to roll out 𝓰“Full Self Driving” technology in China after a whirlwind weekend trip to the country.

Top Chinese officials gave Tesla 🌳tentative permission to launch the software following a meeting with Musk during his surprise trip to Beijing. Tesla will rely on Chinese tech giant Baidu’s mapping license for navigation on public roads, people familiar with the matter

During his trip, Musk met with top Chinese officials, including Premier Li Qiang, who previously helped clear the way for Tesla to launch i🐼ts production facility in 🍌Shanghai. The exact timing of a FSD rollout was not immediately clear.

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“Honored to meet with Premier Li Qiang,” Musk wrote. “We have known each other now for many years, since earlꦐy Shanghai days.”

Local approval for full self-driving could provide a major boost to Tesla in China – the world’s largest auto market – at a time when his . Teslaཧ has also faced fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers such as BYD.

The EV pioneer’s stock has surged more than 35% in the past five days, closing at $194.05 on Monday, but is still down more than 20% on the year.

Tesla’s deal with Baidu helped to reas🐭sure officials in Beijing about data privacy risks, sources told the Journal.

The firmꦗ has stored all data related to its Chinese business in Shanghai since 2021 as part of a compliance deal with local regulators.

The Baidu deal was “clearly key to getting the gre꧃en light from Beijing,” according to Wedbush anaꦍlyst Dan Ives.

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“This is a key moment for Musk as well as Beijing at a time that Tesla has faced massive domestic EV competition in China along with softer demand,” Ives said in a note to investors. “While the long term valuation story at Tesla hinges on FSD and autonomous, a key missing piece in that puzzle is Tesla making FSD 🅷available in China which is now a done deal.”

Musk is also seeking approval to transfer data from its Chinese flee♕t overseas to help train its driving software, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Tesla did not immediately return The Post’s request for ꦕcomment♊.

Full Self Driving is the most advanced version of Tesla’s semi-autonomous driver assistance software, which has drawn a positive response from the company’s loyalis💧ts as well as intense scrutiny from safety regulators in the US.

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Last month, Musk reportedly implemented a “hard requirement” that all potential Tesla buyers receive a demonstr🧜ation of the FSD technology, including a test r꧃ide, before they receive their vehicle.

Earlier this month, Tesla slashed the price﷽ of FSD in the US to $🤪8,000 from $12,000. FSD is also availabꦕle through monthly subscriptions, the price of which was cut to♔ $99 from $199.

Tesla says its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving products “are intended for use with a fully꧅ attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.”

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has cond🔜ucted a long-running investigation into the potential role of Tesla’s software⭕ in hundreds of vehicle crashes.

Last year, Tesla issued an over-the-air recall to add “additional controls and alerts” nudging drivers to pay attention while using🌜 Autopilot.