When Beijing beat Jack Ma on China’s most prominent entrepreneur, Jack Ma, by slamming the 2020 business brakes, it sent a clear message that no company is in the Chinese Communist Party Above.
On Monday, China’s top leader Xi Jinping tried another approach.
Xi Jinping met with the company chief, including Mr. Ma, who has been largely away from public attention over the past four years, which has been supported during a period of economic instability.
According to a videotape released by state media, heads of electronics companies Huawei and Xiaomi, battery maker CATL and electric vehicle giant Byd were among the business leaders who chaired the conference. The reports did not describe the nature of the discussion or listed the nature of everyone participating, but pointed out that Xi listened to the executives’ concerns.
This is the first gathering between Mr. Xi and company leaders since President Trump targeted a series of tariffs, which he said was to reduce the huge U.S. trade deficit with the country. Tariffs have increased the list of growing threats to China’s economy, most importantly property crisis, price declines and fragile consumer sentiment.
The private sector has taken the back seat under Mr. XI, who attaches more importance to state-owned enterprises to promote self-reliance in China. In a weekend’s report, Xi Jinping may meet with top corporate leaders, sparking optimism among investors who may change their strategies.
Stocks traded by many Chinese large companies have emerged there in recent weeks, largely because of Chinese startup DeepSeek that built a powerful AI initiative using fewer computer chips than any Silicon Valley giant. According to Chinese media reports, DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng was at the meeting on Monday.
On Monday, Hong Kong’s suspension index initially gathered, but it fell slightly a day. Stocks in mainland China rose about 0.25%.
The summit was one of the main topics discussed on Monday on Weibo on a popular online platform in China.
For many, the most important question before the meeting is whether Mr. Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, will attend.
This is the first time Mr MA has made a public appearance with Mr XI since the government intervened to stop its $34 billion initial public offering in 2020. The actions taken by regulators have stopped the world’s largest IPO, a key development for years of government for Chinese entrepreneurs. Since then, Mr. Ma has been largely away from the public eye.
Fred Hu, founder of Hong Kong investment firm Primavera Capital, said Monday’s meeting symbolic “course correction”.
“In recent years, the private sector has been hit by policies, politics and regulations,” he said.
Mr Ma’s attendees conveyed a message: “Successful private entrepreneurs will be respected rather than punished,” Mr Hu added.
Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment.
Although Xi Jinping’s outreach is full of hopeful symbolism, it is not clear that this will lead to substantial changes in the company or help solve China’s broader economic hardship.
Mr. Xi Jinping convened the head of China at a splash conference in 2018, highlighting the Communist Party’s support for private companies and promising “this won’t change a little bit.”
Soon after, Beijing began cracking down on private businesses, introducing regulations to curb real estate financing, private tutoring companies that view corruption in healthcare and paid practices in financial services. The party cut funding from state-owned banks in its campaign, banned companies and detained some of China’s most famous executives and tycoons.
Local governments full of debt have fined private businesses and families and even detained executives to earn extra cash.
Chen Zhiwu, a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the practice has inspired ordinary people to feel insecurity about their financial wealth and future.
Last week, the head of economic crime in China said the government was working to “correct profit-driven law enforcement.”
But experts say Beijing will need to do more to increase investments in Chinese companies and foreign companies if it wants to create jobs and stimulate consumer spending. Its biggest gesture in recent months is to announce a $1.4 trillion plan to bail local governments, which many economists say is not bold enough.
Even Mr. MA’s return to the spotlight is not enough to address the lingering concerns.
“At the end of the day, the reality is that Chinese private enterprises are valuable only if the party needs growth or needs to stabilize the economy,” Mr. Chen said.
“Once the economy stabilizes, private business owners will be thrown into the trash again.”
Li, you Contributed to the research.
