Chinese President Xi Jinping met some of the country’s top entrepreneurs including Alibaba’s Jack Ma on Monday as Beijing looks to reinvigorate private business and drive stronger economic growth.
Ma was the most prominent victim of Beijing’s tech crackdown in recent years, and has largely been absent from public view following regulators’ dramatic intervention in late 2020 to cancel the planned record initial public offering for Ant Financial Group.
His presence at Monday’s forum, where Xi gave an “important speech”, according to state broadcaster CCTV, symbolised ‘s desire to present a more positive disposition towards the private sector, analysts said.