Beijing - Tesla's revenue from China last year tripled to more than $1 billion, indicating better traction in the market Chief Executive Elon Musk had predicted could eventually become the company's biggest.

China accounted for more than 15 percent of Tesla's more than $7 billion total revenue last year, according to a US regulatory filing. Sales from the US more than doubled to $4.2 billion.

After a splashy start in the world's most populous country in 2014, the electric-car maker faced setbacks including slow deliveries, orders by customers that Musk dubbed "speculators" and concerns over charging the electric cars that the Musk blamed on local sales staff. China revenue fell by a third in 2015.