Alibaba Group Holding Ltd CEO Daniel Zhang and Tencent Holdings Ltd Senior Vice President Guo Kaitian expressed support for Xi’s flagship goal of closing the country’s wealth gap on Sunday, when of the World Internet Conference held in the resort town of Wuzhen from September 26 to 28.
Xiaomi Corp co-founder Lei Jun said the same day that tech companies should help bridge the digital divide and boost small and medium-sized businesses, two of Beijing’s long-standing political goals.
The summit comes as China’s tech giants undergo immense regulatory upheaval on everything from online gaming to data ownership and overseas funding.
Meituan, the food delivery giant backed by Alibaba and Tencent, and ridesharing app Didi Global Inc are all under investigation.
The campaign to curb the technology came after Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma berated regulators for stifling innovation last October, illustrating the importance of not questioning government policy during a public forum.
Eric Jing, chairman and CEO of Ant Group Co, said on Sunday that the recent round of new policy guidelines for the internet were “important and timely, and a reminder for us in the industry not to be distracted by the competition, but to revert to the original intention of the Internet instead.
He also espoused the benefits of blockchain, saying the technology “can provide a solid foundation of trust for industrial collaboration” and called on participants to “contribute to the inclusive and sustainable development of the country.”
Xi launched the annual China Internet Summit in 2014 with great fanfare, and in previous years, industry stars such as Apple Inc’s Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai have flown with Chinese apparatchiks.
Strict pandemic border controls have limited opportunities for in-person networking at recent events, with U.S. industry executives paying attention to China’s economic and social goals via video this year.
Tesla Inc’s Elon Musk praised China’s new regulations to strengthen data management, saying in a video message that his company is locating its Chinese data.
Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm Inc praised the rapid rollout of 5G in China and urged US and Chinese companies to collaborate more, while Chuck Robbins of Cisco Systems Inc spoke of aligning with Xi’s vision of a shared cyberspace community for the benefit of all.
The Chinese Cyber ​​Security Administration, the agency at the forefront of technological crackdown in China and host of the conference, was also represented.
“Data should serve the people,” said Sheng Ronghua, deputy minister of the ACC. “We need to promote the sharing of information, resources and results in the digital industry. ”
Founded in 2011, the once low-key watchdog – which operates under the Central Commission for Cyberspace Affairs chaired by Xi – rose to prominence this year, establishing new rules that require ACC approval for any company that wishes go public abroad, if it has more than one million users.
Chinese officials have also warned in recent months against the disorderly expansion of capital in platform economies and have asked Ant to submit to a program of “rectification” after the surprise end of what was to be. the largest IPO in the world.
In recent weeks, Ant has agreed to share data from its small loans department with the Chinese central bank’s credit reference center and would create a separate app for its lending business and attract state-backed investors. .
