COVID-19

China Strongly Supports Tesla Giga Shanghai During The Coronavirus Outbreak

China Strongly Supports Tesla Giga Shanghai During The Coronavirus Outbreak

From the moment the outbreak of coronavirus began in China and to this day, the Chinese authorities have supported Tesla in every possible way, since it is a valuable producer for the country.

From the last week of January until February 10, Giga Shanghai suspended its work, but thanks to measures taken by the Chinese government, the factory restored operations.

First of all, the car manufacturer was provided with protective masks, disinfectants, thermometers and other materials that allowed it to return to work as soon as possible.

The Chinese government went even further, and provided housing for some Giga Shanghai employees. Dormitories were arranged for hundreds of Tesla employees, and assistance was also provided in transporting them to and from the factory. The government-sponsored Shanghai Lingang Human Resources Co., which coordinates the recruitment in the region, said that since the outbreak, it has helped Tesla add more than 100 new employees, and has also helped with online interviews and virus checks.

China has the largest electric car market in the world, so Tesla is interested in working on it. At the same time, China’s attitude towards Tesla demonstrates that the country is ready to open its economy to global competition and become a world leader in EV production.

Fortune reports, Yale Zhang, founder of AutoForesight, a Shanghai-based consultancy said: “Given Tesla's image of having advanced electric-vehicle technology and expected strong demand for made-in-China Tesla Model 3s this year, no local government anywhere in the world would neglect such a new project.”

COVID-19 almost paralyzed industry in China, but officials in Lingang identified Tesla as an example of their success in rebuilding the region's industry, which is why the automaker quickly returned to work.


“The Gigafactory project illustrated the cooperation between Tesla and the Shanghai government, and that the city has improved its business environment,” Wu Qing, deputy mayor of Shanghai, said at a ceremony that saw Tesla hand over its first China-made car.

The comprehensive assistance of the Chinese government indicates that it is fulfilling all its promises made for Tesla.

“The fact that Tesla received significant government support to overcome the current crisis shows China is delivering its promises to treat foreign firms on equal footing with local ones,”  said Ivan Su, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Hong Kong.

And while automakers around the world stop their production, Tesla continues to manufacture and deliver cars.

About the Author

Eva Fox

Eva Fox

Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.

Follow me on X

Reading next

Telsa-Giga-Shanghai-Phase-II
SpaceX successfully deploys Starlink satellites, achieves reusing Falcon 9 for a fifth time but misses landing

Tesla Accessories