First batch of China-made Tesla sedans arrives at Belgium's Zeebrugge port

After roughly one-month at sea, the vessel carrying the first batch of made-in-China Tesla Model 3 heading to Europe has arrived at Zeebrugge port in Belgium on Thursday evening, according to the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data of the vessel.

A total of some 7,000 sedans were manufactured in Tesla's gigafactory in Shanghai, China, before launching its journey to Europe last month.

Those electric vehicles will then be shipped to countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland for sale.

Tao Lin, vice president at Tesla, told Xinhua that the US carmaker gained more confidence in China after getting through the pandemic and benefiting from China's economic recovery.

Calling it a "milestone" for Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory, Tao said the export of China-made Tesla cars will continue as the plant further expands its production capacity.

She noted that the design of the Gigafactory in Shanghai is fully in line with international standards, which ensures its products are able to satisfy diversified consumption needs from all over the world.

Earlier this year, Tesla delivered the first batch of made-in-China Model 3 sedans to the public, one year after the company broke ground on its first overseas plant.