Elon Musk Takes Selfie With Rival EV Billionaire Lei Jun At Chinese State Banquet

BreakingBusinessBreaking NewsElon Musk Takes Selfie With Rival EV Billionaire Lei Jun At Chinese State BanquetByZachary Folk,Forbes Staff. I cover breaking news.Follow AuthorMay 14, 2026, 10:43am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ToplineLei Jun, the Chinese billionaire and CEO of smartphone and electric vehicle company Xiaomi, leaned in for a selfie at a state dinner with his seemingly annoyed American manufacturing rival Elon Musk, who is one of several American billionaires accompanying President Donald Trump on a state visit.Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a state banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.Getty ImagesKey FactsIn a video circulating on social media, Jun appears to approach Musk and kneel down for a photo during a banquet at China’s Great Hall of the People, where the Tesla CEO made what appeared to be annoyed expressions for the camera.Lei has expressed admiration for Musk in the past, and in 2017 the Wall Street Journal reported he was one of the first Tesla owners in China.“Lei Jun and Elon Musk Posing for a Photo” was also trending in the top three terms on Chinese social media site Weibo on Thursday morning.Since the trip began, Musk has been interacting with Chinese-speaking followers posting photos and videos of him on X, the app he purchased in 2022 for $44 billion, and when a user posted a video of him walking with one of his children, Musk replied in Chinese: “My son is learning Mandarin.” if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.video/player.js?cid=62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a'; script.setAttribute('defer', '1'); script.setAttribute('type', 'text/javasc...