Tesla jumps 8% in premarket trade after passing key hurdle to roll out full self-driving in China

Shares of Tesla rose sharply in U.S. premarket trading on Monday after the electric car maker passes a significant milestone to roll out its full self-driving technology in China.

The company’s share price was up 7.59% as of 6:02 a.m. ET, as investors reacted to news surrounding Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s visit to China.

Tesla on Sunday said that local Chinese authorities removed restrictions on its cars after passing the country’s data security requirements. The move raised expectations that Tesla’s driver-assistance software Full Self Driving would soon be available in the country, which is the largest market for electric vehicles.

While Tesla’s electric cars are some of the most popular vehicles in China, they have reportedly been banned from some government-related properties due to data security concerns.

Separately, the Biden administration earlier this year announced a probe into whether imported cars from China pose national security risks due to their ability to potentially collect sensitive data.

Full Self Driving is an upgrade to Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistant. Tesla has offered its FSD technology in China for years, but with a restricted feature set that limits it to operations, such as automated lane changing.

Data security concerns have been a key obstacle preventing Tesla from achieving a full rollout of the system in China.

This breaking news story is being updated.