&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun looks smitten as he takes a selfie with his rival Elon Musk - Watch")
Elon Musk shared a selfie moment with his electric car rival, Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, at the state banquet for US President Donald Trump hosted by China's President Xi Jinping. Xiaomi has become a leading name in the field of automobiles and is a major competitor to Tesla and Porsche in the Chinese market. Tesla also has a massive presence in China, and the country is one of the company's largest markets and primary manufacturing hubs. Musk shared a video of himself sitting at a table at the banquet as several people came up to him one after the other for a photo. Meanwhile, Marco Rubio and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang can be seen chatting with other leaders. After some time, Lei goes to Musk and takes a selfie, appearing to be a little charmed and happy to see the Tesla CEO. Meanwhile, Musk looks a little bored at the event, as pointed out by several users.
Xiaomi and Tesla are rivals in China's car market
The moment between Musk and Lei has become one of the highlights of the banquet since they are both rivals in China's car market. Tesla opened its first wholly overseas vehicle assembly plant in Shanghai in 2019, where it produces the Model 3 and Model Y. It also has showrooms and service centres across major cities in mainland China. Meanwhile, Xiaomi entered the automotive market with the launch of the Xiaomi SU7 (Speed Ultra), a high-performance electric sedan. The car is known for its sleek design and deep integration with Xiaomi’s existing tech ecosystem. It also has the "MX11" SUV in the pipeline, as industry leaks have confirmed that Xiaomi is currently testing its second vehicle. It is a battery-electric SUV, and its design is being compared to the Ferrari Purosangue.
Musk took his son X to China
Apple CEO Tim Cook was also present at the banquet and was the next person to take a photo with Musk. The billionaire earlier went viral for acting like a tourist, shooting videos while other leaders in the delegation stood waiting for Trump and Xi. He also took his son X with him to China. Some netizens pointed out how Musk was posting from China even though the social media platform does not operate in the country. "My GOAT using VPN to access his app coz it's banned in China," a user wrote.
