Factbox: Chinese firms and their founders at Xi's symposium

China Feihe

17/02/2025 09:01

BEIJING, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping
addressed more than a dozen founders and chief executives from
some of China's largest companies on Monday, in a bid to boost
private sector sentiment. 
    Here are details of some of the firms, and their heads, in
attendance: 
    
    ALIBABA  9988.HK  - JACK MA
    The appearance of Ma, co-founder of Alibaba and one of
China's best-known entrepreneurs is seen to be highly symbolic
as he largely withdrew from public life after authorities halted
the IPO of his fintech company Ant in 2020. Ma gave up control
of Ant in 2023. 
    Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce firm with businesses in
cloud computing and AI, was one of Beijing's biggest targets in
its private sector crackdown, being fined a record $2.75 billion
 for anti-monopoly violations in 2021.
    Alibaba has since undergone a major corporate restructuring
and leadership changes and faces intense competition from rivals
such as Pinduoduo. 
    
    HUAWEI - REN ZHENGFEI
    Huawei became a poster child of China's efforts to beat back
 U.S. pressure after it defied rounds of Washington's sanctions
to release a high-end smartphone powered by a domestically-made
chip in 2023.
    Washington accuses it of posing a national security risk,
which Huawei denies. The company's businesses also span areas
from telecoms to connected car software. 
    
    XIAOMI  1810.HK  - LEI JUN
    The world's third-largest smartphone maker, moved into car
making last year, with the launch of its SU7 electric sports
car. 
    Founder Lei Jun has been front and center of the shift, with
regularly regular livestreams to promote its cars on social
media platforms. Xiaomi achieved a technological breakthrough by
developing China’s first 3nm smartphone chip, a government
official said in October.    
    
    DEEPSEEK - LIANG WENFENG
    The Chinese AI startup attracted global attention and
triggered a market crash in January after launching AI models it
says are on par with, or better than, industry-leading models in
the United States at a fraction of the cost. 
    Founded by Liang, its products have been widely embraced not
only globally but by Chinese industry, including tech giants
such as Tencent and Baidu, though several overseas governments
abroad are checking its security risks. 
    
    BYD  002594.SZ  - WANG CHUANFU 
    Originally set up as a maker of mobile phone batteries, BYD
has grown to become China's top electric vehicle maker, selling
more than 420 million EVs and plug-in hybrids last year. 
    
    CATL  300750.SZ  - ROBIN ZENG
    CATL, the world's largest battery maker, supplies firms such
as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen. It is now trying to
reinvent itself as a green-energy provider.
    
    TENCENT  0700.HK  - PONY MA 
    Tencent is China's leading gaming giant which also runs
Weixin, an all-in-one super app with more than a billion users.
Also a significant player in cloud computing, it is investing
heavily in AI.
    Tencent was fined nearly 3 billion yuan by Beijing in 2023
amid the private sector crackdown, but a recent easing of gaming
regulations, has sent its performance into a rebound.
    
    UNITREE - WANG XINGXING
    One of China's leading makes of humanoid robots, Unitree 
has captured attention for its products' impressive
capabilities, such as walking, climbing, and carrying loads. 
    
    MEITUAN  3690.HK  - WANG XING
    China's largest food delivery firm with a market cap of
about $124 billion, Meituan has expanded its offerings in recent
years to include travel and hotel booking, pharmacy and
supermarket services and even drone deliveries. 
 
    WILL SEMICONDUCTOR  603501.SS  - YU RENRONG
    Founded in 2007, Will Semiconductor, is a fabless company
focusing on image sensors and power management ICs widely used
in consumer electronics. 
    
    QI AN XIN TECHNOLOGY  688561.SS  - QI XIANGDONG
    Founded in 2014, the prominent supplier in the cybersecurity
industry provides solutions to beef up digital security on
critical infrastructure.
 
    CHINT GROUP - NAN CUNHUI 
    Since starting as a switch producer in 1984, the group has
expanded to include the entire industry chain of electricity,
from storage to transmission and distribution, including
building new energy photovoltaic power plants. 
    
    CHINA FEIHE  6186.HK  - LENG YOUBIN
    One of China's oldest milk powder companies, China Feihe
 6186.HK  is also its largest producer of infant milk powder. 
    
    NEW HOPE GROUP - LI YONGHAO
    China's largest feed maker with the largest poultry meat
processing capacity, New Hope Group was founded in 1982 and
operates in sectors such as real estate, finance, and
healthcare, besides its core business supplying meat, eggs, and
milk. 

 (Reporting by Che Pan, Liam Mo, Casey Hall, Sophie Yu and
Brenda Goh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
 ((liam.mo@thomsonreuters.com;))