The entrepreneur is also the force behind the LeEco and Faraday Future electric vehicle start-ups, and according to Reuters he "aims to outmuscle Musk".

LeEco recently unveiled the LeSEE pure electric car in China.

Yueting considers cars of the future as "smart mobile device on four wheels, essentially no different to a cellphone or tablet".

"We hope to surpass Tesla and lead the industry leapfrogging to a new age…"

"People questioned our idea, a small IT company building a car to compete with the BMWs and Teslas of the world, and laughed at us. It wasn't easy, but here we are."

LeEco seems to intend to produce electric cars in the facility currently being built Faraday Future in Nevada, but with sales scheduled for both U.S. and China. Another topic is production in China, but probably that would come through a partnership with California-based Atieva and BAIC Motor.