Consumers with the Tesla Model YL electric vehicle at Tesla stores in Shanghai, China, October 19, 2025.
CFOTO | Future publications | Getty Images
After years of delay, Tesla announced Thursday that its “Fully autonomous driving“Capacities are now available for its electric vehicles sold in China, as domestic electric vehicle brands in China have long deployed proprietary autonomous driving technologies.
The announcement on X, which is owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, listed China is one of 10 markets where the company FSD system (supervised) is now available. Although few details, the post marks the first time the automaker has confirmed the technology’s availability in China.
The announcement comes a week after Musk, accompanied by a US delegation of business executives, joined US President Donald Trump for his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Before Thursday’s announcement, the availability of its FSD technology in China was mired in ambiguity.
Unlike U.S. consumers, Tesla customers in China could only access the company’s Autopilot and Enhanced Autopilot systems. precursors of the FSD (Supervised) system – while only some users had access to limited versions as a car manufacturer regulatory approval expected.
Despite its name, Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) technology still requires active driver monitoring to take over steering and braking.
A fully autonomous and “unsupervised” version of the technology is still under development. tested on a fleet of Tesla vehicles which operate as part of its Robotaxi ride-sharing service in Texas.
It is unclear, however, whether Tesla’s FSD (supervised) capabilities have already been made available to the general public in China.
According to the company China website“Intelligent Assisted Driving” is available on its Model 3 sedan at a one-time price of 64,000 Chinese yuan ($9,409). The company added that these features would be updated “shortly,” according to a Mandarin warning translated by CNBC.
The Chinese Embassy in Singapore did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on whether regulatory approval for Tesla’s FSD (supervised) system had been granted.
While Musk had touted the company’s plans to introduce the FSD system – which was unveiled in the US in 2020 — in China since 2024these plans did not materialize as expected.
In July 2024, Musk said during a second-quarter earnings conference call, he expected regulatory approval from Chinese authorities before the end of this year. Musk’s stated timeline was further delayed to September 2024, after he said the technology was still “awaiting regulatory approval”.
As recently as April this year, the company said it was still awaiting regulatory approval for the FSD system, Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said in the Tesla statement. first quarter earnings call.
Speculation over the approval of Tesla’s proprietary self-driving technology in China, however, has increased in recent days, with Bloomberg Report On Wednesday, the company had launched a concerted recruitment effort for positions related to autonomous driving technology, such as autopilot test engineers, in the country.
While Tesla awaited regulatory approval over the years, its Chinese rivals, including Xiaomi And Xpeng have developed their own autonomous driving technologies.
Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued its first level three autonomous driving certifications in December 2025, approving two passenger cars from Chinese companies Changan Auto and BAIC Motor.
Chinese state regulators rate models’ autonomous driving capabilities on a five-level scale, ranging from cruise control at level one to full autonomy at level five. Reuters reported in December that Tesla’s FSD (supervised) is classified as a level two system.
Chinese robotaxi companies such as Pony.ai and Baidu’s Apollo Go also have move forward with the development of their autonomous driving technologies and are now operating commercial driverless ride-hailing services in China.
In April, Tesla China sold the fourth most electric vehicles in the country, behind BYD and auto conglomerates. Geely And Cheryaccording to monthly wholesale figures of the China Passenger Car Association.
A Tesla China representative declined to comment.
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao, Evelyn Cheng and Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that Tesla’s FSD (supervised) is a partially automated driving system.
