Asia Tech Wire (May 6) -- Tesla Senior Vice President Tom Zhu will soon return to Tesla China, sources said.

Tom Zhu, senior vice president overseeing Tesla's automotive business, will soon return to Tesla China, resuming his position as vice president of China, an Internet influencer revealed on Chinese social media Weibo on Monday.

Sun Shaojun, founder of CheFans, a Chinese media platform specializing in the automotive sector, reposted the news, saying, "Zhu's return should be the most exciting news for Tesla China."

In this regard, some industry insiders analyzed that Zhu's return may be to advance Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system to enter the Chinese market.

Zhu joined Tesla in April 2014 as the director of Tesla China's supercharger program.

In 2018, Zhu moved up to the position of global vice president of Tesla and was responsible for leading the Greater China business as well as the construction and operation of Tesla's Shanghai superfactory.

Under his leadership, the Shanghai factory has not only become Tesla's super factory with the highest production capacity, but also Tesla's largest vehicle export center.

In April last year, Tesla disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Zhu has served as the company's senior vice president of automotive operations since April 2023.

After entering Tesla's global management, Zhu moved to the U.S. office last year and is the right-hand man to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

One of Tesla's most important businesses - the launch of its FSD system in China - is now at a critical stage, and Zhu's return could accelerate the process.

During Musk's whirlwind visit to China at the end of April, Tesla secured automotive data security clearance.