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Alibaba CEO Jack Ma answers questions during a media conference at the De La Salle University in Manila on October 25, 2017. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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Alibaba CEO Jack Ma

Agence France-Presse

<p>BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting Monday with top private business leaders including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, state media footage showed.</p><p>Since coming to power more than a decade ago, Xi has consistently sought to bolster the role of state enterprises in the world&#x27;s second-largest economy and warned against the &quot;disorderly&quot; expansion of the private sector.</p><p>But reports last week said he was preparing to meet leading business luminaries, as he battles a slowing economy beset by a real-estate crisis, persistently low consumption and high youth unemployment.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/business/10/25/17/jack-ma-ph-can-ride-new-tech-revolution-despite-internet-woes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jack Ma: PH can ride new tech revolution despite internet woes</a></div><p>State broadcaster CCTV reported Monday that the meeting had taken place at Beijing&#x27;s Great Hall of the People, with video showing Ma standing and applauding as Xi entered a lavish room.</p><p>CCTV did not immediately give details of the content of the meeting.</p><p>Ma&#x27;s inclusion hints at the billionaire magnate&#x27;s potential public rehabilitation after years out of the spotlight following a tangle with regulators.</p><p>The former English teacher founded tech behemoth Alibaba in 1999 and built it into one of China&#x27;s most recognizable and dominant private companies.</p><p>He once cultivated an outspoken public persona but reined in his pronouncements towards the end of the last decade as Xi oversaw a sweeping crackdown on the country&#x27;s once-freewheeling technology and internet platforms.</p><p>In 2020, authorities cancelled the blockbuster IPO of Alibaba affiliate Ant Group at the last minute -- notably after Ma made a speech criticizing regulators.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/business/01/07/23/jack-ma-the-tycoon-grounded-by-chinas-regulators" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jack Ma: The tycoon grounded by China&#x27;s regulators</a></div><p>Ma is no longer an executive at Alibaba but is believed to retain a significant shareholding in the company, despite spending the past few years focusing on philanthropy and rural education.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/business/11/05/21/jack-ma-trump-and-xi-how-chinese-billionaire-flew-close-to-the-sun" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jack Ma, Trump and Xi: How Chinese billionaire flew close to the sun</a></div><p>Alibaba, which is expected to publish its latest quarterly earnings report this week, has seen its shares soar more than 40 percent so far this year.</p><p>Other participants in Monday&#x27;s meeting included Ren Zhengfei -- the founder of tech titan Huawei -- and Wang Chuanfu, who established electric-vehicle giant BYD.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/02/21/jack-ma-loses-title-as-chinas-richest-man-after-coming-under-beijings-scrutiny" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jack Ma loses title as China&#x27;s richest man after coming under Beijing&#x27;s scrutiny</a></div><p>CCTV broadcast clips of Xi, Ren and Wang addressing the meeting but did not immediately provide audio or written details of what they said.</p><p>Also in attendance were Robin Zeng, the founder of battery powerhouse CATL, and Wang Xing, the co-founder of internet platform Meituan.</p><p>China has struggled to sustain a strong recovery from the pandemic and last year the economy expanded five percent, which was among the slowest in decades.</p><p>Beijing is expected to target a similar level of growth in 2025, but may face headwinds as US President Donald Trump renews his hardball trade policy with hefty tariffs.</p><p>Trump has already announced additional levies of 10 percent on all imports from China, with Beijing hitting back immediately with tariffs of its own, targeting coal and gas.</p>

<p>Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting Monday with top private business leaders including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, state media footage showed.</p>

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting Monday with top private business leaders including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, state media footage showed.

China's Xi meets business leaders including Alibaba's Jack Ma

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China's Xi meets business leaders including Alibaba's Jack Ma

Agence France-Presse,

Matthew Walsh and Luna Lin

Published Feb 17, 2025 03:23 PM PHT

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