Tesla plans to recruit 100 college graduates, build factory in China

Tesla vehicles are being assembled by robots at Tesla Motors Inc factory in Fremont, California, US on July 25, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Tesla's China recruitment is in full swing, although the site for the the company's China factory has not yet been decided.

The company held a job fair at Sichuan University on Oct 25, following earlier events at Renmin, Tongji and Zhejiang Universities. The open positions include product specialist, pre-sales adviser and technical support staff.

The officer responsible for recruitment told China Business News that the new recruits will not work in the factory, adding that the company's goal was to hire 100 people at the university job fairs. According to China Business News, this is the first time that Tesla has done large-scale recruitment since the company entered China three years ago.

At the Sichuan job fair, department heads of Tesla China introduced the company to attendees. According to an executive, Tesla's charging poles now cover more than half of China, and over 400 super poles have been installed, making China the second largest country in terms of charging capacity, second only to the US.

Tesla's China general manager, Zhu Xiaotong, said in March that management was conducting research about a site for its factory in China.

"We must be prudent in selecting the site because car manufacturing is a very complex process, and we are still in an initial stage," Zhu remarked. Zhu also said that running a factory in China will reduce shipment costs and tariffs, which will lower the car's price by one-third.

At present, Tesla has about 700 employees in Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.