- A Chinese government source indicated that China will not approve Tesla's FSD soon, dashing Elon Musk's expectations.
- Musk said on Thursday that he expects FSD to receive approval in China next month.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said he expects China to approve the company's FSD (Full Self-Driving) driver assistance system next month, though this appears to be wishful thinking.
Recent media reports touting imminent approval for Tesla's FSD technology in China are inaccurate, according to a Friday report by state-run China Daily citing a Chinese government source.
Musk said on Thursday that he expects FSD approval in China next month, reiterating the timeline he mentioned last November.
"We hope to get Supervised Full Self-Driving approval in Europe, hopefully next month, and then maybe a similar timing for China," Musk said at his first appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to a Reuters report on Friday.
"This is not true," the government source familiar with the matter said, according to China Daily. The source did not provide further details on the latest progress or timeline of China's regulatory review of the FSD system.
Tesla has been actively pushing to introduce its more advanced driver assistance software into the Chinese market, where the company currently offers a less-capable autopilot system, the report noted.
On February 25, 2025, Tesla began rolling out ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) features in China similar to the US version of FSD, though the initial introduction avoided mentioning FSD. That was seen as the formal introduction of FSD to China.
However, to date, these features still lack the capabilities of the US FSD version.
