China’s Xi meets with business leaders to boost economy

China’s President Xi Jinping has met with the country’s top business leaders, state media reported, including Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba who had kept a low public profile after angering Chinese officials a few years ago

BANGKOK — China’s President Xi Jinping met with private sector business leaders on Monday, state media reported, as government officials work to revive an economy disrupted by a pandemic, regulatory crackdowns and a real estate crisis.

Among the delegates was Jack Ma, who founded e-commerce firm Alibaba in the 1990s and was once China’s richest man. He has kept a low profile with few public appearances in recent years after he publicly criticized China’s regulators and financial systems during a speech in Shanghai.

Other business leaders at Monday’s meeting in Beijing were Zeng Yuqun, the chairman of battery developer CATL, Wang Chuanfu, chairman of electric cars manufacturer BYD, and Pony Ma, the CEO of Tencent, which owns WeChat, according to a video of the meeting from state broadcaster CCTV and a state media report.

According to the state media report, Xi made “important remarks” to the gathered delegates, without giving further details. The short two paragraph report which originally had been carried by state media was subsequently deleted. Instead, a search online revealed shorter state media statement which had cut out the names of those present.

Ma, one of the wealthiest men in the country, gave a speech in Oct 2020 in which he said regulators were too conservative. The government responded by scuttling his plans for Ant Group ‘s stock market debut, the finance-focused business which grew out of Alipay, the popular digital payments system. They also then forced Ant Group to restructure, dividing it into multiple independent businesses.

Alibaba was also investigated and fined $2.8 billion for breaching antitrust rules.