Xi rallies tech sector giants amid US rivalry

President Xi Jinping presided over a meeting with prominent entrepreneurs that included Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma Yun yesterday, signaling Beijing's endorsement for a long-marginalized private sector now considered key to reviving the world's No 2 economy.

The event, a turnaround in Beijing's approach to its tech giants from a clampdown four years ago, reflected policymakers' concern about a slowdown in growth and efforts by the United States to limit China's technological development.

Xi urged the assembled founders and chief executives to maintain their competitive spirit and have confidence in the country's future, emphasizing that the challenges they faced are "temporary."

He promised to abolish unreasonable fees or fines against private firms and level the competitive playing field - a common complaint of entrepreneurs in a state-dominated system. China's parliament said yesterday it would review laws centered on promoting the private economy.

"It is necessary to resolutely remove all kinds of obstacles to the equal use of production factors and fair participation in market competition," Xi told entrepreneurs, according to Xinhua.

Beijing should "continue to promote the fair opening of the competitive field of infrastructure to all kinds of business entities, and continue to make great efforts to solve the problem of difficult and expensive financing for private enterprises."

Tencent founder Pony Ma Huateng - whose WeChat pioneered the "super app" concept that has since been lauded by Elon Musk - attended, CCTV reported. BYD's Wang Chuanfu and Contemporary Amperex Technology's Robin Zeng Yuqun also joined the assembly, driving home China's rapid ascent in EVs.

"This is the strongest signal China could release to boost social confidence," said You Chuanman, senior lecturer at the School of Law, Singapore University of Social Sciences. "The fact that Xi Jinping himself shows up to meet with the entrepreneurs highlights the political significance of this meeting."

Xi's move to gather business leaders, including those behind breakout successes despite US pressure in recent months, underscores the importance of private-sector innovation for China to gain ground in technology, analysts said.

"It's a tacit acknowledgement that the Chinese government needs private-sector firms for its tech rivalry with the United States," said Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics in Hong Kong. "It has no choice but to support them if it wants to compete with the United States."

The private sector in China, which competes with state-owned companies, contributes more than half of tax revenue, more than 60 percent of economic output and 70 percent of tech innovation, official estimates show.

US tariffs threaten more pressure on China, which has been reeling from weak domestic consumption and a destabilizing debt crisis in the property sector.

Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, a startup that threatens to upset American AI ventures with its lower-cost AI model, attended, sources said.

The first images from state media showed Xi speaking to assembled executives pictured from behind and aligned in rows before him. The images prompted a scramble by investors to see who was in and out among top business leaders.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and BYD's Wang sat directly in front of Xi, images showed, seats of honor for national champions in electric vehicles and chip development.

In addition to DeepSeek, other participants showcased recent business success stories with a wide public following in China.

Those included Xiaomi's Lei Jun, a celebrity chief executive who pushed his smartphone and appliance company into EVs, and Wang Xingxing, founder of Unitree.

One of the most popular moments of CCTV's Lunar New Year's gala broadcast featured dozens of Unitree humanoid robots dancing in a spectacle that seemed aimed at Tesla's earlier efforts and showcasing China's homegrown innovation.

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