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Musk predicts that Tesla's Full Self-Driving Software will win China's full approval in early 2026

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said that he expected the Full Self-Driving Software, an automaker's driver assistance system to be fully approved in China by early next year.

Musk said at the annual general meeting of his company on Thursday that "we have partial approval in China and we hope to have a complete approval in China by February or March."

The China's Industry Ministry did not respond immediately to a comment request.

China is Tesla's largest market, but its share of the market has fallen to 8% from a high of 15.4% during the first quarter 2023. Local brands are winning over customers by offering similar features of driving assistance, many times at no additional cost.

Since February, the Tesla system (also known as FSD) has been approved partially in China. Tesla owners were able to use an older and less expensive autopilot system before.

Some Chinese Tesla owners paid 64,000 yuan (about $9,500) for FSD in the hope that the full rollout wouldn't take too long. However, the failure of the FSD to be approved has been a major source for friction between Tesla owners and the automaker.

FSD is only partially approved in China, which means it falls short of the capabilities that FSD has in the United States. In China, it is illegal to change gears. This means that the vehicle cannot complete a journey from one parking spot to another on its own. It has also been difficult for the system to identify local traffic signs in China.

(source: Reuters)