Musk credits Xi's leadership for China's rapid development ahead of state visit
Elon Musk praised China's rapid development and rising living standards under President Xi Jinping, speaking ahead of Xi's state visit to the United States.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has credited China's rapid development and the growing prosperity of its citizens to the leadership of President Xi Jinping, in remarks made ahead of Xi's state visit to the United States.
Speaking in an interview with China Media Group at Tesla's engineering headquarters in Silicon Valley, Musk said the pace of change in China is evident to anyone who visits.
"I've seen it firsthand. If you visit China and you see the amount of progress that happens from one year to the next or even within a year, it's very visible, like you can see the new buildings, the new infrastructure," he said.
Musk added that the improvement in living standards is equally apparent on the ground. "It's also obvious to see that just walking around the streets, the increased prosperity of the average Chinese citizen has increased tremendously," he said.
He attributed these gains to Xi's tenure. "That's happened under President Xi while he's been the leader of China, so he's clearly done an excellent job and is very capable," Musk said.
Xi departed for the United States on Wednesday afternoon at the invitation of President Donald Trump, for a state visit that includes a high-stakes meeting between the two leaders.
The trip is expected to complete reciprocal visits between the two presidents within months. It marks Xi's second state visit to the United States, following his first in 2015.