Tesla has made new progress in the Chinese market amid increasingly fierce competition and falling demand for electric vehicles in the US and Europe.

Tesla’s best-selling Model Y has been included in the list of electric and hybrid cars that officials and civil servants are allowed to buy by the government of Jiangsu province, China.

This is the first time a local Chinese government has allowed party and government officials to buy Tesla vehicles, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing Chinese media outlet Paper.

Elon Musk’s car company is the only foreign company on the list of 56 new energy vehicle models that public agencies are allowed to buy. The rest are all Chinese brands.

Neither the Chinese government nor state media have specified how many Model Ys the Jiangsu provincial government is allowed to purchase.

In 2021, China banned Tesla vehicles from some government and military compounds in the country due to information security concerns. The restrictions were lifted after Elon Musk made a surprise visit to China in April.

During the visit, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers added Tesla to a list of automakers that meet the country’s data security requirements. Elon Musk’s car company also signed a deal with Baidu to access the Chinese tech giant’s mapping and navigation systems, paving the way for the introduction of fully autonomous driving technology in the country of a billion people.

The announcement by the Jiangsu provincial government comes at a crucial time for Tesla in China, which accounts for 60% of its electric vehicle sales. The country is becoming increasingly important as demand for electric vehicles declines in the US and Europe.

Tesla is also facing increased competition from Chinese brands. In the first half of 2024, sales of Tesla vehicles made in China fell 9% year-on-year.