GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
#1 PRESIDENT XI’S MESSAGE TO THE BILLIONAIRES
——————————
#1 PRESIDENT XI ADDRESSES THE BILLIONAIRES
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
“President Xi Jinping has told top Chinese entrepreneurs including Alibaba’s Jack Ma that the private sector has “great potential” and has pledged a series of measures to improve the country’s business environment.
Ma’s attendance on Monday at Xi’s first high-profile meeting with private entrepreneurs in several years was a clear signal that China’s most famous entrepreneur had been rehabilitated after becoming the most prominent victim of a government crackdown on the tech sector in 2020.
Analysts said the meeting also signalled Beijing’s desire to present a more positive disposition towards the battered private sector. Xi pledged that the Communist party would “unwaveringly encourage, support and guide the development of the private economy” while strengthening the state sector.
State media quoted the Chinese president as promising a level playing field for private business and the resolution of problems such as high financing costs and late payment by state bodies, as well as a crackdown on arbitrary fees, fines and inspections.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
Remember where the USSR went wrong. It went soft on the Oligarchs. The Communist Party of the USSR lost its nerve. It was no longer in control and the Oligarchs dictated policy and acquired for themselves many of the assets of the USSR State. Political changes occurred. Gorbachev surrendered to Boris Yeltsin and the Soviet Socialist experiment was over. The USSR of Lenin was no more.
China studied this period of Soviet history with much commitment and analysis. What had gone wrong? Why had it gone wrong? What lessons could China’s Communist Party learn from the decline and fall of the Soviet Party?
Was the problem in-built? Was it inevitable that the great Soviet experiment failed because it was flawed from the start? Or was there an explanation of USSR’s collapse that was attributable to policy mistakes made by the leadership of the Soviet Communist Party? Could it happen in China?
It was a very important issue for China and its leadership. The Soviet Party had caused its own downfall because of its own mistakes and the Chinese Communist Party needed to know what mistakes had been made. If things went wrong in the USSR, they could go wrong in China. The Chinese Party had to examine the failings of the Soviet State in the greatest detail. They did – they mobilised the many think tanks (TT) and assigned to each an area of policy and activity in the USSR. It was a big undertaking. The Chinese needed to know what had gone wrong in the USSR.
They reached two conclusions. First; the Party had to give more power and authority to the Provinces and Cities to make long term development decisions. In a phrase – more decentralisation was required. The people at the cutting edge of economic activity had to be empowered to make decisions that affected the people of that region. The Centre had to relinquish economic power to the Provinces and Cities.
The second pointed to development in the opposite direction. If Decentralisation was to apply in the economic sector, the opposite was to apply in the political sector – Beijing had to maintain an unchallenged #1 position as the Government of the country as a whole. The Power was with the Party – the Party was 98m people and the leadership of the Party was the Standing Committee of the Central Committee – the Politburo. In the USSR the Oligarchs dictated to the Party. In China the Party dictated to China’s Oligarchs – the Billionaires
Jack Ma “got too big for his boots”. He thought he was all-powerful. He thought he had a free hand to castigate the Party leaders. He was wrong. He was brought down. He suffered a big fall in the public arena. He was slighted. He was forced to take a step back. He was not imprisoned or charged with offences. It was made clear to him – and to the 800+ other Billionaires – that Politics was for the Party and Business was for the Billionaires. China was not going the way of the USSR.
State media footage this week showed Ma standing and clapping alongside more than a dozen Chinese entrepreneurs as Xi entered a prestigious conference hall room in Beijing. A combative speech by the Alibaba founder in late 2020 led Xi to cancel his Ant Group’s blockbuster initial public offering and kick off a crackdown on the power and influence of the country’s billionaire class.
Ma has made infrequent public appearances since he became the most prominent target of Beijing’s crackdown. The message has got through. The Billionaires have a role and a function in Xi’s China. They are important contributors to national prosperity. Business matters and the Billionaires matter but they do not decide policy. They don’t make the laws and they don’t dictate to the Party.
The television film showed Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and Xiaomi chief Lei Jun reading from prepared remarks before Xi spoke. “Entrepreneurs should be full of entrepreneurial and patriotic passion, continuously elevate their ideals and cultivate a deep sense of national responsibility,” Xi said. Private groups should “strive to contribute more to promoting technological innovation . . . and building a modern industrial system,” he said.
Investors and Chinese internet users poured over the seating chart of Monday’s forum to gauge the importance Beijing placed on the companies and individuals arrayed before Xi. Unitree founder Wang Xingxing, whose robots have been featured in military exercises and dancing on news shows, was seated front and centre, flanked by Ren Zhengfei of Chinese national champion Huawei. Yu Renrong, head of chip company Will Semiconductor and Liu Yonghao, founder of agriculture conglomerate New Hope, were also seated in the first row.
Other tech executives at the meeting included Robin Zeng, chair of leading battery maker CATL, and Meituan boss Wang Xing. Tencent chief Pony Ma, Wang Chuanfu, chair of electric vehicle maker BYD and artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng were also present.
In every society there are tensions between the politicians and the entrepreneurs – China is not different except that China has made clear that the Billionaires, the Capitalists, the Entrepreneurs, the Business men and women are welcomed, respected and protected. Their views will be listened to. They do matter but they must never think that because of economic achievement they can bring influence to bear on the direction of political policy. That space is reserved – for the Party.
GRAHAM PERRY
