When Tesla’s Elon Musk visited China for the first time in three years this week, he received a warm welcome from the country’s top officials. The foreign, commerce and industry ministers all met with the influential entrepreneur individually. He also enjoyed a dinner with Zeng Yuqun, the chairman of CATL, China’s biggest battery maker.

Chinese netizens also expressed their admiration for Musk during his visit, despite the growing friction between US and China. The visiting billionaire impressed many Chinese users, who commented things like, “He’s a global idol,” and “Elon Musk is just great, if only China could have someone like Elon Musk.

Elon Musk is not the only business leader visiting China this week. JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon and Starbucks’ Laxman Narasimhan are also there. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the country in March. China remains a vital market for these tycoons, and China’s recent shift away from its strict Zero Covid policy has also made such high-level visits more feasible.

However, no one has received a warmer welcome than Musk. His visit is attracting a lot of attention from the Chinese public. His views on artificial intelligence and the future of electric vehicles have sparked a lot of discussion on Chinese social media

The content of Musk’s talks with the Chinese officials has not been disclosed yet, but a statement from China’s industry minister indicates that the main topic of the conversations with Musk was the growth of electric cars in China.

Tesla facing hurdles in China Musk’s trip to China coincides with rumors about Tesla encountering difficulties in China regarding the enlargement of its Shanghai plant due to data issues. The plant was originally planned to undergo “third-phase” expansion mid-year, which would increase the plant’s production capacity to two million cars a year.