BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed more than a dozen founders and chief executives from some of China’s largest companies on Monday, in a bid to boost private sector sentiment.
Here are details of some of the firms, and their heads, in attendance:
ALIBABA – JACK MA
The appearance of Ma, co-founder of Alibaba and one of China’s best-known entrepreneurs is seen to be highly symbolic as he largely withdrew from public life after authorities halted the IPO of his fintech company Ant in 2020. Ma gave up control of Ant in 2023.
Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce firm with businesses in cloud computing and AI, was one of Beijing’s biggest targets in its private sector crackdown, being fined a record $2.75 billion for anti-monopoly violations in 2021.
Alibaba has since undergone a major corporate restructuring and leadership changes and faces intense competition from rivals such as Pinduoduo.
HUAWEI – REN ZHENGFEI
Huawei became a poster child of China’s efforts to beat back U.S. pressure after it defied rounds of Washington’s sanctions to release a high-end smartphone powered by a domestically-made chip in 2023.
Washington accuses it of posing a national security risk, which Huawei denies. The company’s businesses also span areas from telecoms to connected car software.
XIAOMI – LEI JUN
The world’s third-largest smartphone maker, moved into car making last year, with the launch of its SU7 electric sports car.
Founder Lei Jun has been front and center of the shift, with regularly regular livestreams to promote its cars on social media platforms. Xiaomi achieved a technological breakthrough by developing China’s first 3nm smartphone chip, a government official said in October.
DEEPSEEK – LIANG WENFENG
The Chinese AI startup attracted global attention and triggered a market crash in January after launching AI models it says are on par with, or better than, industry-leading models in the United States at a fraction of the cost.
Founded by Liang, its products have been widely embraced not only globally but by Chinese industry, including tech giants such as Tencent and Baidu, though several overseas governments abroad are checking its security risks.
BYD – WANG CHUANFU
Originally set up as a maker of mobile phone batteries, BYD has grown to become China’s top electric vehicle maker, selling more than 420 million EVs and plug-in hybrids last year.
CATL – ROBIN ZENG
CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, supplies firms such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen. It is now trying to reinvent itself as a green-energy provider.
TENCENT – PONY MA
Tencent is China’s leading gaming giant which also runs Weixin, an all-in-one super app with more than a billion users. Also a significant player in cloud computing, it is investing heavily in AI.
Tencent was fined nearly 3 billion yuan by Beijing in 2023 amid the private sector crackdown, but a recent easing of gaming regulations, has sent its performance into a rebound.
UNITREE – WANG XINGXING
One of China’s leading makes of humanoid robots, Unitree has captured attention for its products’ impressive capabilities, such as walking, climbing, and carrying loads.
MEITUAN – WANG XING
China’s largest food delivery firm with a market cap of about $124 billion, Meituan has expanded its offerings in recent years to include travel and hotel booking, pharmacy and supermarket services and even drone deliveries.
WILL SEMICONDUCTOR – YU RENRONG
Founded in 2007, Will Semiconductor, is a fabless company focusing on image sensors and power management ICs widely used in consumer electronics.
QI AN XIN TECHNOLOGY – QI XIANGDONG
Founded in 2014, the prominent supplier in the cybersecurity industry provides solutions to beef up digital security on critical infrastructure.
CHINT GROUP – NAN CUNHUI
Since starting as a switch producer in 1984, the group has expanded to include the entire industry chain of electricity, from storage to transmission and distribution, including building new energy photovoltaic power plants.
CHINA FEIHE – LENG YOUBIN
One of China’s oldest milk powder companies, China Feihe is also its largest producer of infant milk powder.
NEW HOPE GROUP – LI YONGHAO
China’s largest feed maker with the largest poultry meat processing capacity, New Hope Group was founded in 1982 and operates in sectors such as real estate, finance, and healthcare, besides its core business supplying meat, eggs, and milk.
(Reporting by Che Pan, Liam Mo, Casey Hall, Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
