What does Jack Ma’s return mean to public attention?

A meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and some of the country’s main business leaders this week have fed emotion and speculation, after the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, was photographed in the event.

The charismatic and colorful Mr. Ma, one of China’s most prominent businessmen, had retired from public life after criticizing China’s financial sector in 2020.

His reappearance in Monday’s event has caused a wave of discussion, with experts and analysts who wonder what the technology sector of China and the economy in general means.

The answer has been overwhelmingly positive: technological actions, including those of Alibaba, recovered shortly after the event.

On Thursday, the electronic commerce giant reported financial results that exceeded expectations, with actions that end the negotiation day in New York more than 8% more. The company’s shares have increased by 60% since the beginning of the year.

So what are analysts reading about the appearance of Mr. Ma in the event along with other high -profile guests, including the founder of Deepseek, Liang Wenfeng?

Analysts began looking for clues about the importance of the meeting as soon as the Chinese state media began publishing photos of the event.

“The assistance of Jack Ma, his seats in the first row, although he did not speak, and his handshake with XI is a clear sign that he has been rehabilitated,” China Bill Bishop wrote.

Social networks were full of users praising Mr. Ma for his return to the public care center.

“Congratulations (Jack) ma for safe landing,” said a user on the Chinese Weibo social networks platform.

“The return of (Jack) Ma is a shot in the arm to the current Chinese economy,” said another.

It is not surprising that the observers have attached so much importance to an appearance of Mr. Ma.

Before his disappearance from public life in 2020, after the comments at a financial conference that China’s state banks had a “commitment mentality”, MA was the boy from the China’s technology industry poster.

An English teacher in computer science, Mr. Ma co -founded Alibaba in his department More than two decades ago after convincing a group of friends to invest in their online market.

He then built one of the largest technological conglomerates in China and became one of the richest men in the country.

That was before his comment as “Employment House”, when he also regretted the “lack of innovation” on the banks of the country.

Led to the cancellation of its stock market flotation of $ 34.5 billion (£ 27.4 billion) of Ant Group, its giant of financial technology.

This was seen at that time as an attempt by Beijing to humiliate a company that had become too powerful and a leader who had become too open.

Analysts agree that the fact that he has returned at the Center for Care, in a symposium where Xi Jinping himself presided, is a very good sign for Mr. Ma.

However, some warning that the fact that it was not among the speakers may show that it has not completely returned to the exalted state that once enjoyed.

In addition, the lack of coverage that received its assistance in the Chinese media seems to confirm that it has not been completely rehabilitated.

Xi Jinping told the participants in the symposium that their companies needed to innovate, grow and stay safe despite the economic challenges of China, which it described as “temporary” and “localized.”

He also said it was the “right time for private companies and private entrepreneurs to completely show their talents.”

This has been widely interpreted as the government that tells private technology companies that they are also back in good thanks.

The fall of Mr. Ma had preceded a broader offensive in China’s technology industry.

Companies came to face a much more strict application of data security and competition rules, as well as state control over important digital assets.

Other companies throughout the private sector, from education to real estate, also ended up being attacked in what was known as the “common prosperity” campaign.

Some considered the measures established by common prosperity policies as a way of controlling the billionaire owners of some of China’s largest companies, to give customers and workers rather than say how companies operate and distribute their profits.

But as Beijing imposed new difficult regulations, billions of dollars were eliminated from the value of some of these companies, many of them technological firms, shaking international investors.

This, together with a worsening of the global economy that was affected by the pandemic and the invasion of Russia of Ukraine, has contributed to considerable changes in the economic situation of China.

Growth has slowed down, jobs for young people in the country have become more scarce and, in the midst of a recession of the real estate sector, people do not spend enough.

Like the rumors that Mr. Ma would attend Monday’s meeting began to spread, he also did a ray of hope. Richard Windsor, director of technology of the counterpart research firm, said that the presence of Mr. Ma would be a sign that China’s leadership “had enough stagnation and could be prepared to let the private sector have a much freer hand “

In addition to Mr. Ma and Mr. Liang, the guest list also included key figures of companies such as Telecommunications and the Huawei smartphone firm, Gigante BYD of Electric Vehicle (EV) and many others of the technological and industrial sectors.

“The list (guest) showed the importance of the Internet/Tech/AI/EV sectors given their representation of innovation and achievement,” said a note from CITI market analysts.

“(It is likely) indicates the importance of technology … and the contribution of private companies to the development and growth of China’s economy.”

Those present at the meeting seemed to share that feeling. Lei Jun, executive director of the Giant of the Xiaomi consumer electronics, told the state media that the “care and support of the president for the companies feel.

The symposium took place after the country experienced what some observers have described as a “Sputnik moment”: the arrival of the artificial intelligence model (AI) of Deepseek at the end of last month.

Shortly after its launch, the Chinese manufacturing chatbot increased from the rank to become one of the most downloaded in the world. It also triggered a sudden advantage of the main technological actions of the United States, as fears increased the leadership of the United States in the sector.

Back in China, the global success of the application has caused a wave of national pride that has quickly spread to financial markets. The investment has been reaching Chinese actions, particularly those of technological companies, listed in Hong Kong and Continental China.

The Goldman Sachs investment bank giant has also improved his perspective for Chinese actions, saying that rapid adoption of AI could boost companies and attract up to $ 200 billion of investment.

But the greatest meaning of this innovation was that it occurred as a result that Deepseek had to innovate due to the prohibition of advanced chips and technology to China.

Now, with Trump back in the White House and his fans of commercial tariffs, XI may have found it necessary to emphasize his focus of China’s entrepreneurs.

Instead of a return to an unregulated era, some analysts believe that Monday’s meeting indicated an attempt to lead investors and businesses towards the national priorities of Mr. XI.

The Chinese president has increasingly emphasized the policies that the Government has known as “high quality development” and “new productive forces.”

These ideas have been used to reflect a change of what were previously rapid growth drivers, such as the investment of properties and infrastructure, towards high -end industries such as semiconductors, clean energy and AI.

The objective is to achieve “socialist modernization” by 2035, higher levels of living for all, and an economy driven by advanced manufacturing and less dependent on foreign technology imports.

Mr. XI knows that to get there he will need the private sector completely on board.

“Instead of marking the end of the scrutiny of the technological sector, the reappearance (from Jack Ma) suggests that Beijing is turning from repressions to the controlled commitment,” said an associate professor at Sydney University of Technology, Marina Zhang to the BBC .

“While the private sector remains a critical pillar of China’s economic ambitions, it must be aligned with national priorities, including self -sufficiency in key technologies and strategic industries.”