Musk opens Tesla Shanghai plant

SHANGHAI, Jan 09 (AFP): Tesla boss Elon Musk has presided over the ground-breaking for a Shanghai factory that will allow the electric-car manufacturer to dodge the China-US tariff crossfire.

Opening of the $5.0 billion project will also allow the electric car-maker sell directly to the world's biggest market for 'green' vehicles.

The plant in a Shanghai suburb is Musk's biggest overseas move yet and will eventually have an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles, Tesla says, dramatically increasing the California-based company's output.

"China is becoming the global leader in electric vehicle adoption, and it is a market that is critical to Tesla's mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy," Musk said, according to a statement released by the manufacturer.

Musk had hinted recently at an upcoming Shanghai trip to break ground for the plant but Monday's event was not publicly announced until the Tesla CEO broke the news in a series of tweets earlier in the day.