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• Tesla said that it had started operations in its first store in the city of Urumqi, Xinjiang
• This would be Tesla’s eleventh store in Northwest China and two hundred and eleventh in the Chinese mainland
Tesla announced the opening of its first store in Xinjiang, China, which has been described by the U.S. State Department as an area where abuse of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities prevails along with “widespread, state-sponsored forced labor” and “mass detention.”
On December 31, the Austin, Texas-based electric car maker said that it had started operations in its first store in the city of Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China, in a post on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.
“On the last day of 2021, we meet in Xinjiang. In 2022, let us together launch Xinjiang on its electric journey,” wrote Tesla.
The new facility covers an area of 1,620 square meters and will offer pre-sales consultation, test drive appointments, new car testing, insurance consultation, temporary license handling, after-sales maintenance, and other services for consumers in Urumqi and surrounding areas.
Xiao Lu, Tesla’s head of Northwest China, said that the center is an important starting point for Tesla to develop its service network in Xinjiang and provides a one-stop service for local consumers while continuously spreading the concept of environmental protection to this region.
The store would be Tesla’s eleventh in Northwest China and two hundred and eleventh in the Chinese mainland. Tesla currently has stores in 60 cities across the mainland.
Xinjiang has been a hotbed of controversy with human rights groups accusing Beijing of detaining ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in "re-education" centers. There have been allegations of using them for forced labor in firms working directly or indirectly as part of global tech and retail supply chains.
In December US semiconductor manufacturing giant Intel issued a letter to employees and suppliers suggesting they avoid sourcing labor and goods from Xinjiang as required by U.S. law. The company issued an apology for the same following a massive uproar in Chinese media.