(Yicai Global) Feb. 12 -- The first batch of Tesla's Model 3 electric cars for delivery in China have arrived at Tianjin Port.

The Glovis Symphony cargo ship left San Francisco on Jan. 23 and arrived in Tianjin yesterday, Shanghai Securities News reported. Two other vessels containing the cars, Morning Cindy and Emerald Ace, are expected to arrive in Shanghai and Tianjin on Feb. 19 and Feb. 24, also from the Golden Gate City.

California-based Tesla slashed the prices of its Model 3 range in China late last year, cutting its long-range dual motor version to CNY499,000 (USD73,540) from CNY540,000. The firm also reduced the price of the performance spec model to CNY560,000 from CNY595,000, and for a limited time offered its autopilot driving system, worth CNY46,300, for free.

The cars are still much more expensive in China than the United States, where the same versions sell for the equivalent to CNY339,000 and CNY414,000 after a USD1,100 cut earlier this month. Chief Executive Elon Musk is looking to start building Tesla's in China in order to trim down that price gap, and construction of the Shanghai Gigafactory is already underway -- expected to produce 250,000 cars a year starting in 2020.

The firm has five other ships sending the cars to other markets, including four to Europe -- two of which have already arrived in Belgium -- and another to a destination not currently known.

Editor: James Boynton