At China political meeting, internet bosses are out, chip execs are in

Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor

03/03/2023 09:44

By Laurie Chen
       BEIJING, March 3 (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings  0700.HK 
founder Pony Ma and others from China's crackdown-hit internet
sector will be absent from this year's parliamentary sessions,
as Beijing boosts representation from the tech hardware sector,
delegate lists show.
    Nearly 3,000 members of the National People's Congress (NPC)
will gather in Beijing on Sunday for its first meeting since Xi
Jinping secured a norm-breaking third leadership term at a
congress of the ruling Communist Party last October.
    The makeup of the nation's top legislative body, mostly
local government officials but also representatives from other
sectors, signals who lies in Beijing's good graces, although the
ultimate barometer of power remains the ruling Communist Party's
205-member Central Committee. 
    This year, a new crop of representatives from the tech
hardware sector appeared on delegate name lists for the first
time, a sign of Beijing's changing priorities as it looks to
bolster its capabilities as Washington cuts off access to
cutting edge technology.
    Pony Ma is absent from this year's list after previously
serving two five-year terms. The chief executive of China's most
valuable company has kept a low profile in recent years while
rival tech entrepreneurs were targeted by a wide-ranging state
crackdown on internet firms and as Xi urged greater scrutiny of
the ultra-wealthy.
    Tencent did not provide an immediate comment.
    Other former darlings of China's internet scene including
Alibaba's Jack Ma, NetEase founder William Lei Ding and Wang
Xiaochuan, founder of search engine Sogou, were also absent from
the delegate list of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC) after previous inclusion.
    However, lower-profile executives from Alibaba and
e-commerce giant JD Group are delegates to the CPPCC, a largely
ceremonial political advisory body that meets around the same
time as the NPC.
    
    HARDWARE FOCUS
    Newcomers to the events include representatives from chip
firms Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation
(SMIC), state-backed Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd, Shandong Youyan
Semiconductor Materials Co. in the NPC and Cambricon Techologies
Corp in the CPPCC. 
    Other new NPC delegates come from robotics, laser, aerospace
and aeronautics firms. 
    "The new line-up of the two sessions seems to reveal
Beijing's clear priority to strengthen its technological
capacity to achieve self-sufficiency and stay competitive with
the United States," said Angela Zhang, director of the Center
for Chinese Law at the University of Hong Kong.
    "In the current geopolitical climate, consumer tech
businesses are eclipsed by those companies that produce hardcore
technologies," she said.
    Delegates for the NPC and CPPCC are chosen every five years
by the Communist Party and have the option to resign.   
    Some veteran tech industry delegates will continue to serve
under new five-year terms on the CPPCC including Lei Jun,
founder of phone manufacturer Xiaomi, and Zhou Hongyi, CEO of
cybersecurity firm Qihoo360. 
    Liu Qingfeng, head of U.S.-sanctioned artificial
intelligence firm iFlyTek, was also selected for another NPC
term. 
    In a speech last month, Xi called for scientific and
technological self-reliance, amid growing export curbs on
advanced technology, mainly from the United States. 
    Some celebrity CPPCC delegates did not reappear on this
year's list, such as Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, film
director Feng Xiaogang and state television anchor Bai Yansong.
    Yao Ming, a retired basketball star who heads the Chinese
Basketball Association, has moved from the CPPCC to the NPC.

 (Reporting by Laurie Chen; additional reporting by Josh Ye in
Hong Kong and the Beijing Newsroom
Editing by Tony Munroe and Kim Coghill)
 ((Laurie.Chen@thomsonreuters.com;))