In July, Tesla announced plans to open a large factory in China in the near future. On Wednesday, the company’s CEO Elon Musk said that the plant’s construction will cost approximately $2 billion and will be "funded through local debt."
Tesla’s expansion to China takes place against the background of record $717.5 million losses in the second quarter of this year, which the company reported earlier in the week.
Shanghai's authorities went on to laud the importance of the plant both for economy and sustainable development.
"This is the largest production project with foreign investment in the history of Shanghai. It is also the first foreign plant for Tesla, which will play an important role in Shanghai’s production sector as well as in development of cars on new energy sources," the government underlined.
With 17,000 vehicles sold last year, China is already Tesla’s second-biggest market after the United States.