Internet executives are absent from China’s government gathering, while semiconductor executives are present.
(Reuters) – Beijing Pony Ma, creator of Tencent Holdings (OTC: TCEHY), and others from China’s crackdown-hit internet sector will be missing from this year’s legislative sessions as Beijing increases participation from the tech hardware sector, according to delegate lists.
The National People’s Congress (NPC) will convene in Beijing on Sunday for the first time since Xi Jinping was elected to a record-breaking third term as president of the governing Communist Party at a congress last October.
The composition of the country’s top legislative body, which includes mostly local government officials but also representatives from other sectors, indicates who is in Beijing’s good graces, though the ultimate barometer of power remains the 205-member Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party.
Internet executives are absent from China’s government gathering, while semiconductor executives are present.
(Reuters) – Beijing Pony Ma, creator of Tencent Holdings (OTC: TCEHY), and others from China’s crackdown-hit internet sector will be missing from this year’s legislative sessions as Beijing increases participation from the tech hardware sector, according to delegate lists.
The National People’s Congress (NPC) will convene in Beijing on Sunday for the first time since Xi Jinping was elected to a record-breaking third term as president of the governing Communist Party at a congress last October.
The composition of the country’s top legislative body, which includes mostly local government officials but also representatives from other sectors, indicates who is in Beijing’s good graces, though the ultimate barometer of power remains the 205-member Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party.
This year, for the first time, a new crop of representatives from the tech hardware sector emerged on delegate name lists, indicating Beijing’s shifting objectives as it seeks to boost its capabilities as Washington restricts access to cutting-edge technology.
Pony Ma is not on this year’s roster despite having previously served two five-year mandates. While competitor tech innovators were targeted by a wide-ranging state assault on internet companies and Xi encouraged increased surveillance of the ultra-wealthy, the CEO of China’s most valuable business maintained a low profile in recent years.
Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other former internet darlings, such as Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) founder Jack Ma, NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) founder William Lei Ding, and Wang Xiaochuan, founder of search engine Sogou (NYSE:SOGO), were also absent from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) delegate list after previous inclusion.
Lower-level executives from Alibaba and JD (NASDAQ:JD) Group, on the other hand, are representatives to the CPPCC, a mainly ceremonial political advisory group that meets around the same time as the NPC.
HARDWARE SPECIALIST
Representatives from semiconductor companies Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), state-backed Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd., Shandong Youyan Semiconductor Materials Co. in the NPC, and Cambricon Technologies Corp. in the CPPCC are newcomers to the events.
Other new NPC representatives originate from companies involved in automation, lasers, aerospace, and aeronautics.
“Consumer tech firms are being eclipsed by companies that create hardcore technologies in the present geopolitical environment,” she said.
Delegates to the NPC and CPPCC are selected by the Communist Party every five years and have the option to quit.
Some veteran tech sector representatives, such as Lei Jun, founder of phone maker Xiaomi (OTC:XIACF), and Zhou Hongyi, Head of cybersecurity company Qihoo360, will continue to serve on the CPPCC for fresh five-year terms.
Liu Qingfeng, the CEO of the US-based artificial intelligence company iFlyTek, was also chosen for another NPC term.
In an address last month, Xi called for scientific and technical self-sufficiency in the face of rising export restrictions on sophisticated technology, primarily from the United States.
Yao Ming, the former basketball player who now leads the Chinese Basketball Association, has switched from the CPPCC to the NPC.
