On December 6th, the 2024 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference with the theme of "Open Innovation and Shared Future" was held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center (Futian).
At the China Merchants Conference, a Cybertruck brought by Tesla was particularly eye-catching, attracting many attendees to stop and watch. It is understood that as an important representative of foreign companies, Tesla has been expanding its business in Shenzhen for 10 years and has continuously increased its investment and layout during this period. What are the expectations for Tesla at this conference? What kind of spark will Tesla and Shenzhen spark? Regarding these issues, Jiang Dan, the regional head of Tesla's external affairs, provided answers at the meeting.
It is understood that this year marks Tesla's tenth year of entering the South China market. Can you introduce Tesla's business development in Shenzhen in recent years?
Jiang Dan: Shenzhen, as a special economic zone and forefront of China's reform and opening up, has abundant economic development vitality and is also an important strategic market for Tesla. Since entering the South China market in 2014, Tesla first chose to establish its first experience center in Shenzhen. So far, Tesla has exceeded 35 stores in Shenzhen and built over 60 Tesla supercharging stations, covering major areas of the city. The Shenzhen Longhua Tesla Center, located in Longhua New District, Shenzhen, is one of the busiest car delivery centers in China.
Meanwhile, Tesla continues to develop its own charging network layout in Shenzhen. As of June this year, Tesla has built over 60 supercharging stations and more than 570 charging piles in Shenzhen, forming a charging network covering the entire city and a "15 minute charging" lifestyle circle, greatly supporting the city's green travel. In 2023, Tesla built China's largest destination charging station in Shenzhen, equipped with 188 charging piles, further enhancing the convenience of charging for users. In the future, Tesla will continue to encrypt its charging network layout, especially by adding more charging stations in areas where users frequently travel.
As a foreign-funded enterprise, what is Tesla's evaluation of the overall business environment and support for foreign investment in Shenzhen?
Jiang Dan: In the ten years of development in Shenzhen, with the gradual improvement of the overall ecological layout of new energy product services and charging networks, pure electric travel and intelligent networking have been widely recognized in the market, and the consumption of electric vehicles has surpassed that of fuel vehicles, becoming an irresistible trend of the times. Tesla's development in Shenzhen over the past decade fully reflects the advantages of local talent, market, infrastructure and other aspects, as well as the comprehensive support of the Shenzhen Municipal Government. This support is reflected not only in policy incentives and incentives, but also in attentive services for enterprise operations and continuous optimization of the business environment, helping Tesla achieve good development in Shenzhen.
As a leading city in promoting new energy vehicles nationwide, Shenzhen provides convenient services and policy guarantees for enterprises. The recently launched "trade in" subsidy policy not only reflects the government's support, but also stimulates the consumption vitality of citizens. The foot traffic to Shenzhen's stores has increased by 20% compared to the same period last year, and the order level has achieved a growth rate of over 15% year-on-year.
Shenzhen is the capital of new energy vehicles. As a leading electric vehicle company, how has Tesla done in terms of policy support, infrastructure, and industrial support for the new energy vehicle industry in Shenzhen?
Jiang Dan: In the ten years of development in Shenzhen, Tesla has deeply felt Shenzhen's spirit of "daring to be the first" in technological innovation, solid industrial foundation, and strong market demand. As one of the youngest cities in China, people have a high acceptance of new things.
The previous decade was the first half of competition in the new energy vehicle industry, with a focus on promoting electrification. Now we have entered the second half of the era of new energy vehicles - intelligent competition and development towards AI vehicles. As a city with strong technological genes and innovative heritage, Shenzhen has inherent advantages in the development of intelligent electric vehicles in the future. I am looking forward to the arrival of the era of autonomous driving in Shenzhen.
In Tesla's view, the future trend of car consumption should be to pursue "pure electric, safe, and intelligent" cars, and autonomous driving actually indicates the essential return of car functions. Tesla will invest approximately $10 billion (about 72.5 billion yuan) in comprehensive training and reasoning artificial intelligence in 2024. Tesla will continue to invest in artificial intelligence to enable consumers to enjoy the charm of technological equality at a lower price.
What are the key business layout directions for Tesla in Shenzhen in the future?
Jiang Dan: In the new year, we will continue to take root in Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area, continuously expand Tesla's services and charging layout in Shenzhen, and promote the sustainable development of environmentally friendly travel in Shenzhen. In the new year, Tesla will strive to promote the development of artificial intelligence in China, especially the products that are currently being released. We hope to promote the landing of AI in China and bring the concept of "technology equality" to everyone.
Note that Tesla brought its Cyber SUV to the investment conference this year. What are the considerations behind this choice? What are the plans or layouts for entering the Chinese market?
Jiang Dan: This year, we brought the Cyber SUV to the investment promotion conference, mainly to showcase Tesla's cutting-edge achievements in technological innovation and product design. At the same time, this car shares the same safety and technology as Tesla's current models on the market, representing a bold exploration and vision for future modes of transportation. Although there are currently no plans to sell this Cyber off-road touring vehicle in China, we hope that through such an exhibition, more people can feel Tesla's relentless pursuit of technological innovation.
Tesla has confidence in the Shenzhen market and hopes to contribute to the high-quality development of Shenzhen, bringing more high-quality choices of new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence products to Shenzhen consumers.