Elon Musk praises Xi Jinping as a 'great leader', cites rising prosperity in China

Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised China's President Xi Jinping as a "great leader", in an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

"Seems like a great leader"

“He seems like a great leader. Under his tenure, China has prospered immensely. I’ve seen it first hand,” he said in a video posted on CCTV's social media, and shared by CGTN.

Musk said that under Xi's tenure, China has "prospered immensely", citing the progress seen from new buildings and infrastructure constructed in the country, CGTN reported.

He added that it was also obvious, just from walking around the streets, that there had been increased prosperity among the average Chinese citizen.

"He's clearly done an excellent job and is very capable," Musk added.

Praised the team at Tesla's Shanghai factory

Musk also spoke about Tesla's largest manufacturing hub, located in Shanghai, describing the team there as "incredibly talented, hardworking and trustworthy", according to Reuters.

He called the Shanghai factory "a gem", adding that it is "beautiful, actually, if anyone's ever been there".

Musk has extensive business ties with China, with Shanghai being home to Tesla's largest overseas manufacturing base.

These ties have drawn scrutiny in Washington in recent years, given that Musk also controls SpaceX, a major contractor for the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies.

Musk among tech and business leaders at White House state dinner

Musk was among the business and tech leaders who attended a White House state dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump for Xi, ahead of the two leaders' second summit this year.

Technology hardware leaders such as Nvidia's Jensen Huang, AMD's Lisa Su, and former Apple CEO and current Executive Chairman Tim Cook sat at the head table with Xi and Trump.

Other tech leaders present at the dinner included Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, along with Musk, who also sat at the head table.

Top image via CGTN, Ludovic Marin/AFP