This photo taken on April 10, 2023 shows the booth of Tesla at the third China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, capital city of south China's Hainan Province.(Photo: Xinhua)

US automaker Tesla confirmed to the Global Times on Monday that it will not attend the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition that will kick off on Tuesday, though did not give any reason for its absence from China's largest annual auto show.

The exhibition, also known as Auto Shanghai 2023, is the first A-class international auto show to be held in the country since the adjustment of domestic COVID-19 measures.

It's reported that more than 1,000 enterprises from all over the world will participate in the show in Shanghai, including leading players such as BYD and Volkswagen.

Tesla's absence from the flagship industry event has aroused broad discussion. Domestic news site chengdu.cn reported that it's not the first time that Tesla skipped an auto show in China, saying that it didn't participate in some other A-class international auto shows including Chengdu Motor Show last year.

Tesla does not categorize itself as an automaker, as the firm also attaches importance to artificial intelligence and energy sector, chengdu.cn reported, citing a Tesla manager.

It's worth noting that Tesla attended the China International Consumer Products Expo that just concluded in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, during which the firm displayed an array of advanced tech products including humanoid robot Tesla Bot.
 
A few days ago, Tesla announced that it will build a Megafactory in Shanghai to manufacture its energy storage product Megapack for which it expects to break ground in the third quarter of 2023.

Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai posted rapid growth since the beginning of 2023. Tesla sold 88,869 units of made-in-China electric vehicles (EVs) in March, jumping 35 percent on a yearly basis, according to data China Passenger Car Association sent to the Global Times.
 
Global Times