As tariff war looms, Prez Xi meets bizmen in bid to shore up economy

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday asked business leaders to unleash their talents in a rare meeting with billionaires including Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, in a bid to shore up sagging business confidence and reverse economic slowdown.

Ma, who had an uneasy relationship with the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and went on self-exile for a while, met Xi along with top corporate leaders Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, Pony Ma Huateng, founder of Tencent, Wang Chuanfu, chairman of electric carmaker BYD and Ren Zhengfei head of Huawei.

The business leaders attended a symposium on private enterprises that was presided over by Xi.

The meeting came amid concerns here over Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency for a second term and his decision to hike tariffs against Chinese exports to the US amid the slowdown of the Chinese economy, which hovered at around 5 per cent GDP growth in the last few years.

Addressing the entrepreneurs, Xi said it is a prime time for private enterprises and entrepreneurs to give full play to their capabilities.

He urged reaching a consensus and firming up confidence to promote the healthy and high-quality development of the private sector, official media reported.