Elon Musk got some time with China's Premier in a sign that the heat is going out of Trump's trade war

Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/Getty Images

Elon Musk met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.
• Li said he hopes Telsa can be "a promoter of the stability of Chinese-US relations," in a sign that the two countries' trade war may be thawing.
• Tesla kicked off the construction of its new $2 billion Gigafactory in China this week.

Elon Musk is on a charm offensive in China - and his latest meeting may be a sign that trade hostilities between the US and China are thawing.

After beginning construction on Tesla's new $2 billion Gigafactory in China this week, Musk met with Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday in Beijing, at the Great Hall of the People.

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The pair posed for photographs and made short press statements as part of the meeting. It came against the backdrop of three days of talks between Washington and Beijing over a trade deal.

Read more: Elon Musk has started building a Tesla Gigafactory in China, and it could let him dodge Trump's trade war

There are signs are that negotiators may have reached a preliminary agreement, and Li bolstered this theory by saying that he hopes Tesla can become an "a promoter of the stability of Chinese-US relations."

"We're incredibly excited to break ground on the Shanghai Gigafactory," Musk added.

At the White House, Bloomberg said some advisers are pressing for a speedy end to the trade war to help soothe recent volatility that has gripped markets. US President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday night: "Talks with China are going very well!"

But if hostilities continue, Tesla's new Gigafactory could help the carmaker side-step retaliatory tariffs in Trump's trade war.

Tesla announced in October that it was accelerating construction on the Chinese factory, as tariffs of up to 40% were making it uncompetitive in China, and in November it cut the price of its cars in China to balance out costs to customers.

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