> Musk has good enough relations and shared interests with the Chinese government that Tesla has the first fully foreign-owned car factory in China. I don't th

> Musk has good enough relations and shared interests with the Chinese government that Tesla has the first fully foreign-owned car factory in China. I don't think you can attribute that to some kind of special relationship. Tesla did not yet have a local factory when the joint-venture requirement fell, so they could start directly as a wholly foreign-owned enterprise. Established companies needed to buy out their partners first if they wanted full ownership, e.g. Hyundai in Sichuan https://www.chinapev.com/baic/hyundai/hyundai-motor-group-acquires-100-of-sichuan-hyundai-corners-commercial-vehicle-market-in-china/ https://www.chinapev.com/baic/hyundai/hyundai-motor-group-ac...