Twitter owner and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday he thinks China is interested in a cooperative international framework on artificial intelligence (AI) based on conversations he had when he was meeting with Chinese officials a few weeks ago, according to the reports by Reuters and The Washington Times.

Musk made the remarks in a Twitter Spaces event with two American congressmen.

"China is definitely interested in working in a cooperative international framework for AI regulation," Musk said. He added that he had advocated for AI regulations and oversight, including in his meetings in China.

Musk's remarks came on the day he launched his long-teased AI startup, xAI.

The billionaire said that he is "kind of pro-China," adding that he has "some vested interests in China," but thinks "China is underrated," that "the people of China are really awesome," and that "there's a lot of positive energy" in China.

China issued a set of interim measures recently to manage the booming generative AI industry, paving the way for its tech companies to roll out AI services.

Read more: China moves to regulate AIGC services, starting August 15

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday at a regular briefing that China attaches importance to AI development and governance, believes in "a people-centered and 'AI for good' approach" in the regulation of AI tech and participates in global cooperation in a highly responsible way.

"China stands ready to step up communication and exchanges on AI security governance with the rest of the world and help establish a broad-based international mechanism and a set of widely accepted international AI governance framework, standards and norms," Wang said in response to a question about Musk's comments.

On his visit to Beijing in late May, the billionaire emphasized Tesla's stance against "decoupling and breaking the chain," saying the company will continue to expand business in China and share China's development opportunities.

(With input from Reuters)