To go to market with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, Elon Musk had no choice but to join a Chinese partner for a mapping licence on the mainland.

A mapping deal with Baidu brings Tesla closer to gaining approval for enabling its driver-assist technology in China.

Chinese search engine Baidu and Tesla have reached a deal that will increase the odds of a FSD launch in China.

The US automaker will then be able to deploy its autonomous driving services on the basis of lane-level navigation and mapping provided by the Beijing-based internet company.

Baidu , China's major internet search company, reached an agreement with Tesla to grant the car company access to its mapping license for data collection on China's public roads, two people familiar with the matter said.

The deal clears a final regulatory hurdle for Tesla's driver assistance system, which Tesla calls Full Self Driving (FSD), to be offered in China, the sources said.

Tesla Inc.’s pivotal partnership with Baidu Inc. in China may amount to a U-turn of sorts for Elon Musk, who’s long claimed his company can eventually offer self-driving without high-definition maps.

Elon Musk's company, Tesla Inc, was forced to do business with Baidu Inc in China despite the CEO's 2019 assertions that relying on maps are "false and foolish"

Elon Musk’s surprise visit to China on April 28, after he cancelled his much-anticipated trip to India, citing “very heavy Tesla obligations”, has won him approval for introducing Full Self-Driving (FSD) in Beijing.