Tesla confirms Full Self-Driving is now available in China after years of regulatory delays

After years of setbacks and missed deadlines, Tesla announced on Thursday that its Full Self-Driving capabilities are now available for its electric vehicles sold in China — a market where domestic EV competitors have long since rolled out their own proprietary self-driving technologies.

The announcement, posted on X — the social media platform also owned by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk — listed China as one of 10 markets where the company's FSD (Supervised) system is now available. Whilst short on specifics, the post marks the first time Tesla has formally confirmed the technology's availability in the Chinese market.

Timing follows Trump-Xi summit

The announcement comes just one week after Musk, as part of a US delegation of business executives, joined President Donald Trump at his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Years of ambiguity and delay

Prior to Thursday's confirmation, the status of Tesla's FSD technology in China had remained mired in uncertainty.

Unlike their American counterparts, Tesla customers in China had only been able to access the company's Autopilot and Enhanced Autopilot systems — precursors to the full FSD offering — whilst only a select number of users had access to limited versions as the company awaited regulatory approval.

According to Tesla's China website, "intelligent assisted driving" is available on its Model 3 sedan for a one-time fee of 64,000 Chinese yuan ($9,409).

Musk had spoken of plans to bring the FSD system — first unveiled in the United States in 2020 — to China since 2024, though those plans repeatedly failed to materialise on schedule.

During a second-quarter earnings call in July 2024, Musk said he anticipated regulatory approval from Chinese authorities before the end of that year. By September 2024, he acknowledged the technology was still "pending regulatory approval."

As recently as April this year, chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja confirmed during Tesla's first-quarter earnings call that the company was still awaiting regulatory sign-off on the FSD system in China.

Speculation had been mounting

Anticipation over the approval had grown in the days leading up to the announcement. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Tesla had launched a significant recruitment drive in China for roles related to autonomous driving technology, including autopilot test engineers.

Chinese rivals raced ahead

Whilst Tesla navigated years of regulatory uncertainty, its Chinese competitors pressed ahead with their own self-driving capabilities.

Domestic rivals including Xiaomi and Xpeng expanded their proprietary systems, whilst Chinese robotaxi companies such as Pony.ai and Baidu's Apollo Go continued to advance their autonomous-driving technologies.

In April, Tesla China ranked fourth in the country for electric vehicle sales, behind BYD and automotive conglomerates Geely and Chery, according to monthly wholesale figures from the China Passenger Car Association.

A Tesla China representative declined to comment. China's embassy in Singapore did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.