China’s XI meets business leaders rarely among US technical rivals
BEIJING (Reuters) – Alibaba founder Jack Ma, hosting a rare meeting on Monday with some of the biggest names in China’s technology sector, urging them to “show their talents,” and putting the power of Chinese models I’m confident and confident. market.
A turnaround to Beijing’s approach to technology giants from a four-year-old regulatory selection, the closely choreographed pro-business rally is a policy on slowing down US growth and efforts to limit China’s technology development It reflects the planner’s concerns, analysts said.
Despite US pressure over the past few months, XI is trying to bring together business leaders, including those behind the success of the breakout, and innovating the private sector to help China gain the basis for technology They said they emphasized the importance of
“The Chinese government is an implicit recognition that it requires private companies to compete technically with the US,” said Christopher Bedl, Associate China Research Director at Dividkal Dragonomics in Hong Kong.
“The government has no choice but to support them if they want to compete with the US.”
The private sector in China, which competes with state-owned enterprises, contributes more than half its tax revenue, more than 60% of economic output and more than 70% of high-tech innovation, official estimates show.
US tariffs threaten more pressure on the world’s second largest economy. This is shaking from weak domestic consumption and the volatile debt crisis.
Two sources familiar with the conference say Liang Wenfeng, founder of Startup, which threatens to disrupt Aimen Ai Ventures with a low-cost AI model, is threatening to upset American AI ventures. It states.
Xi Jinping called for a meeting at the same ceremonial convention that he used in 2018 for similar meetings during the trade war during US President Donald Trump’s first administration.
Xi’s remarks, summarised by state media a few hours later, underscored the continuity of China’s economic development strategy. However, he also said that the private business has “a wide prospect and great promise” to create wealth and opportunities.
China’s governance and market size provide inherent advantages in the development of new industries, Xi said.
“It’s the right time for most private businesses and entrepreneurs to show their talent,” he was quoted as saying in a statement in the national media called “a critical speech.”
The first national media image showed XI talking to the edited executives lined up in the row before him. The images encouraged investors to scramble and saw who was coming and going among top business leaders.
Huawei founders Ren Zhengfei and Byd’s Wang Chuanfu sat directly in front of Xi, the images show, the honorary seat of the national champions of electric vehicles and chip development.
Baidu’s shares fell by more than 8%, making it the biggest loser in the Hang Seng index, as no top executives were found. The founders of Baidu and Bytedance were among those who were not present, two sources familiar with the issue said.
Officials from either company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Friday, Reuters reported that XI is planning to chair the business meeting, citing sources.
“Sputnik Moment” and dance robots
In addition to Deepseek, whose AI breakthrough is described as China’s “Sputnik moment,” other participants introduced their recent business success stories with a wide range of Chinese supporters.
Those include Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, the celebrity CEO who pushed smartphone and appliance companies to EVS, and Wang Xingxing, founder of Unitree.
One of the most popular moments in CCTV’s New Year’s Gala broadcast of the Moon is dozens of Unitree humanoids dancing in a spectacle aimed at Tesla’s previous efforts and aimed at showcasing homemade innovations in China We featured robots.
Other executives present include Robin Zeng of CATL, Meituan’s Wang Xing, Leng Youbin of China Feihe, and Yu Renrong, founder of Will Semiconductor.
Tencent’s Pony Ma was there too, said two sources familiar with the meeting.
“Power confidence”
Hong Kong’s tech stocks have jumped out in recent weeks in a combination of optimism about the DeepSeek AI breakthrough and thawing the authorities’ approach to the internet giant.
The Hang Seng Technology Index reached a three-year high in trade on Monday morning. The closure was less than 1%.
XI first chaired a well-known private sector symposium in 2018, six years after he came to power. At the time, he pledged access to tax cuts and financial support.
Xiaoyan Zhang, a finance professor at Tinga University in Beijing, said Monday’s meeting was intended to try to “inject confidence” by sending a similar message on the importance of the private industry .
“I think it’s about telling them that we want to support you. We need you to boost innovation, innovation, and drive consumption,” Zhang told Reuters.
Particularly attending Jack MA could boost confidence, analysts said.
The once-known entrepreneur withdrew from popular life in 2020 after the IPO of fintech company Ant was suspended by authorities.
His business empire and the wider technology industry were targeted by regulatory repression and his time in the spotlight represents a reversal of the fate of China’s private sector.
(Reports by Beijing and Hong Kong Newsrooms, Additional reports by Tom Westbrook in Singapore, Written by Sumeet Chatterjee and Kevin Krolicki, Edited by Gerry Doyle and Clarence Fernandez)
