The Tesla boss has been both lauded as a visionary and criticised by Chinese regulators and the public for the alleged bungling of customer complaints. In addition, the dominance of SpaceX and its Starlink satellite unit has raised the ire of the People's Liberation Army. And as the gap between Tesla and its Chinese EV rivals narrows, Musk is at risk of losing prestige and influence.
Musk is now among a group of more than a dozen CEOs and top executives accompanying U.S. President Donald Trump to Beijing for a summit with Xi Jinping, along with Apple's Tim Cook and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang. The delegation largely consists of executives seeking to resolve issues with Beijing and the world's richest man is no stranger to the ups and downs of doing business with China.
