Beijing (AFP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting Monday with top private business leaders including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, state media footage showed. Since coming to power more than a decade ago, Xi has consistently sought to bolster the role of state enterprises in the world’s second-largest economy and warned against the “disorderly” expansion of the private sector.
But reports last week said he was preparing to meet leading business luminaries, as he battles a slowing economy beset by a real-estate crisis, persistently low consumption, and high youth unemployment. State broadcaster CCTV reported Monday that the meeting had taken place at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, with video showing Ma standing and applauding as Xi entered a lavish room. CCTV did not immediately give details of the content of the meeting.
Ma’s inclusion hints at the billionaire magnate’s potential public rehabilitation after years out of the spotlight following a tangle with regulators. The former English teacher founded tech behemoth Alibaba in 1999 and built it into one of China’s most recognisable and dominant private companies. He once cultivated an outspoken public persona but reined in his pronouncements towards the end of the last decade as Xi oversaw a sweeping crackdown on the country’s once-freewheeling technology and internet platforms.
In 2020, authorities cancelled the blockbuster IPO of Alibaba affiliate Ant Group at the last minute — notably after Ma made a speech criticising regulators. Ma is no longer an executive at Alibaba but is believed to retain a significant shareholding in the company, despite spending the past few years focusing on philanthropy and rural education. Alibaba, which is expected to publish its latest quarterly earnings report this week, has seen its shares soar more than 40 percent so far this year.
Other participants in Monday’s meeting included Ren Zhengfei — the founder of tech titan Huawei — and Wang Chuanfu, who established electric-vehicle giant BYD. CCTV broadcast clips of Xi, Ren, and Wang addressing the meeting but did not immediately provide audio or written details of what they said. Also in attendance were Robin Zeng, the founder of battery powerhouse CATL, and Wang Xing, the co-founder of internet platform Meituan.
China has struggled to sustain a strong recovery from the pandemic, and last year the economy expanded five percent, which was among the slowest in decades. Beijing is expected to target a similar level of growth in 2025, but may face headwinds as US President Donald Trump renews his hardball trade policy with hefty tariffs. Trump has already announced additional levies of 10 percent on all imports from China, with Beijing hitting back immediately with tariffs of its own, targeting coal and gas.
© 2024 AFP
