China Lifts Restrictions, Gives All Clear Nod For Tesla Cars

In a big relief for Tesla, its vehicles passed the key test of compliance with China's data security rules as its billionaire CEO Elon Musk who air dashed to Beijing on Sunday met Premier Li Qiang to press for all clear approval for his cars which faced stiff competition from local rivals.

In a big relief for Tesla, its vehicles passed the key test of compliance with China's data security rules as its billionaire CEO Elon Musk who air dashed to Beijing on Sunday met Premier Li Qiang to press for all clear approval for his cars which faced stiff competition from local rivals.

Musk's Tesla, which in recent months faced entry bans in Chinese government-affiliated buildings besides military bases due to security concerns over data leaks, "passed" the security assessment by a state-owned Chinese industrial association on Monday.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Centre of China on Monday published a list of 76 models of intelligent connected vehicles that meet the country's auto data security requirements, including those from Tesla.

The list was released after security tests jointly conducted by the two organisations clearing models of local Chinese electric vehicles, including Li Auto, Lotus, Hozon New Energy Automobile, and NIO besides BYD and Tesla, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In tests starting in November 2023, cars were assessed to see if they met four compliance requirements - the anonymisation of facial and other information from outside the car, the default non-collection of in-car data, the in-car data processing, and the conspicuous notification of personal information processing.