The big difference is that Tesla was not directed to have a joint venture with a Chinese company like every other Western company setting up in China so he has a better chance of holding onto his IP if he wants to.
However he is already having arguments with a Chinese car maker who poached an employee, has some suspiciously similar code in their software, whose website mimics Teslas in almost every way and whose cars look so similar to Teslas that there is a black market in Tesla badging to make them indistinguishable to the casual observer. Of course there are many ICE vehicle manufacturers who have run into similar problems.
We also have to remember that Elon has said publicly that anyone can use most (but not all) of his patents to advance the production of EVs around the world. Tesla will most likely design and build a smaller entry level car entirely in China for world consumption in the next couple of years. Labor costs would make that vehicle less viable if it was made anywhere else.
