Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to chair a symposium next week aimed at boosting sentiment in the private sector, which will involve business leaders from the country, including Alibaba. This was reported by the company's co-founder Jack Ma and three people familiar with the meeting.
Xi Jinping rarely chairs symposiums dedicated to the private sector, and this event highlights numerous challenges faced by China, from escalating tensions in relations with the United States to a slowdown in domestic economic growth.
Many entrepreneurs are expected to be from the technology sector, and Xi Jinping is expected to encourage them to expand their business in domestic and international markets amid the intensification of China-U.S. relations and the tech war, two sources said.
The symposium is likely to take place on Monday, three sources said. The news about the symposium was first reported by Reuters.
Pony Ma, CEO of tech giant Tencent, is expected to attend, two sources said. Lei Jun, CEO of smartphone and electric vehicle maker Xiaomi, as well as Wang Xinxin, founder of robotics company Yushu Technology, are also likely to attend, one source said.
Huawei Technologies' CEO is also expected to attend, according to two sources.
Bloomberg News reported that Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, will also be present. The AI startup has shaken the tech world with its models, which, according to the company, were developed at a fraction of the cost of Western competitors.
Reuters spoke with five people who knew about the symposium for this article, and all of them declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak with the media.
The State Council Information Office, which handles media inquiries on behalf of the country's leadership, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the event.
Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Huawei, Yushu, and DeepSeek also did not respond to requests for comment.
Shares of Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi, listed in Hong Kong, continued to rise in day trading after the news. Xiaomi ended the trading session at a record high, gaining 7%. Tencent also closed 7% higher, while Alibaba rose 6%.