Although in the West he is a controversial figure, in China he is a superstar.

The Tesla has been reduced in recent years to a symbol of the middle class, and the success of the 51-year-old American billionaire – head of the American electric vehicle company – is admirable.

In fact, during his visit to the country this week, his supporters Elon Muskdubbed him “Comrade Musk” while a meme circulated this week showing “Comrade Musk,” a reference to the Chinese president, standing behind a podium decorated with Chinese flags as officials applaud him.

Musk — who also heads Twitter — arrived in Beijing on Tuesday and traveled to Shanghai last night, making his first visit to China in more than three years.

Chinese social media followed suit excitement every minute of his stay in the country, with posts on Weibo—the equivalent of Twitter—that had billions of views.

Musk was received almost as one foreign leader and met in Beijing with several members of the Chinese government while photos of the dinner held in his honor on Tuesday have already gone viral.

His jet left China this morning.

Worship for Musk

There are many internet users who do not hide their admiration for the entrepreneur: “For Musk there are no countries on the planet, only markets (…) to sell his products”, someone commented. “This is exactly the kind of borderless capitalism he envisioned.”

Zhu Qi, owner of a Tesla in Changsha city, does not hesitate to say it: she “adores” Elon Musk for “his great charm and his consistent excellence in his field.”

“China is still not very open (…) so the fact that people like him come and share some of their knowledge with us, I think is important, something that our country and its leaders can be inspired by,” he added the 33-year-old university professor.

But “because of our exam-heavy education system, I think it’s difficult for China to produce someone like Musk,” he noted.