Washington, Jun 23 (IANS): American luxury electric carmaker Tesla has confirmed that it is considering opening its first plant in Shanghai to cater to the growing Chinese market.

In a statement on Thursday, Tesla said it was exploring with Shanghai authorities the possibility of opening the plant to build electric cars for China, a big consumer of luxury vehicles, reports Efe news.

"Tesla is deeply committed to the Chinese market, and we continue to evaluate potential manufacturing sites around the globe to serve the local markets," the company said in a statement.

"While we expect most of our production to remain in the US, we do need to establish local factories to ensure affordability for the markets they serve."

China, which accounted for 15 per cent of Tesla's revenue in 2016, wants to boost the use of electric vehicles, which could open up an interesting market for the company.

Tesla is owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk.