When Xi Jinping, the chief of China, entered a symposium with a group of best entrepreneurs this week, he semblance be in a good mood.
China had a few good weeks. The artificial intelligence models of the start-up Deepseek sent us cultivating actions and Western commentators shouting: “Sputnik moment”. Then an animated movie Based on Chinese mythology, ratified nearly $ 2 billion. Xi said he was being held behind the private sector at the meeting on Monday, pushing the Hong Kong stock market to his highest point in three years.
For China, everything has provided a two -year discomfort – chronic economic problems and difficult geopolitics.
What has remained clear is how the Chinese Chinese economy could get the ingenuity of a start-up, or the confidence that the business world could draw from the sudden conviviality of a Leader who has the reputation of being wary and hating the private sector. The interpretations of the meeting varied considerably.
“Is China,” asked a commentator on social networks, “now like Shanghai in 1949”, after which the private sector was nationalized under the domination of the Communist Party? “Or is it Shenzhen in 1979”, when China began the policies of reform and openness of its economy?
“No one knows,” was the response of another commentator, who added that many senior leaders present probably did not know either.
The lack of confidence and the desire to start again are real, highlighting the eagerness of the country to withdraw from its crisis and its uncertainty as to the will of its leader to change course. The private sector also has good reasons to worry that Beijing can mingle more companies in the name of their support, stifling innovation and competition.
Mr. XI summoned the meeting because he saw that the impact of Deepseek, a start-up mainly unknown until last month, was much stronger than he had tried to achieve thanks to a downplacesaid Xu Chenggang, economist in Stanford. “He wanted private companies to help him find a way to get out of trouble,” he said.
Mr. Xu, who is critical of Mr. XI’s management and was among the first to report Deflationary pressuressaid that the arrival of Deepseek and other positive news could strengthen the confidence of investors and that any persistent momentum could support the economy.
“I don’t think the trend in economic decline will change,” he said. “However, China could be able to escape a serious crisis that started a year ago and move on to a more stable, but supported decline, giving it a chance to catch its breath.”
He said he did not believe that deep or artificial intelligence could repair the root of China’s economic problems: low demand. If anything, it could stimulate supply by making companies more effective, aggravating the imbalance.
Mr. XI has great hopes for private companies and entrepreneurs. During the symposium, he told them that they should “position themselves firmly as manufacturers of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promoters of Chinese modernization”. Mr. XI urged them to pursue high -quality development and improve independent innovation.
In almost 10 minutes segment About the symposium on state television, the most eminent entrepreneurs in China, mainly in technology and advanced manufacturing, were held respectfully and applaud vigorously while Mr. Xi entered. After the meeting, they aligned themselves to shake hands with him.
A couple of the founders wore what is called the “Xi jacket– A dark and zipped windbreak that the Chinese chief often carries and which has become the unofficial uniform of Chinese functionality. While Mr. Xi spoke, many leaders, seated in front of him as university students, were shown in the segment taking notes. Among them was Jack Ma, the founder of the electronic commerce giant Alibaba and the online financial giant group, which was the first target of a repression of the technology that Mr. XI carried out during the pandemic.
“Reunion has seemed to be teacher students,” said a venture capital that has invested in some of China’s most successful technological start-ups. “The reaction of the market surprised me – it was too optimistic.”
The private sector contributes to more than 50% of China’s budgetary income, more than 60% of its economic production, more than 80% of urban employment and more than 90% of the total number of companies, according to the state diffuser.
A businessman who employs thousands of people in China told me that he was in the interest of the party to better treat entrepreneurs. “If the private sector collapses, the Chinese economy will have disappeared,” he said.
During the meeting, Mr. Xi spoke, as he often does, of his work experience in the provinces where private companies were very competitive. But his economic thought can be summed up as: a more important role for the State and a smaller role for the market. Under his reign, China fired back Pro-enterprise policies that have transformed it into the world economy n ° 2. muffled Its most prosperous technological companies, sending entrepreneurs accomplished with early retirement or self-imposed exile.
Now, while the economy of the country struggles and artificial intelligence demonstrates its influence in the most important geopolitical rivalry in China, with the United States, Mr. XI has shown a certain heat to the private sector.
A founder of a listed company on the stock market told me that he thought that the Communist Party, which did not allow any strength to compete with power, would always be wary of the private sector.
A lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions told me that he had not seen signs of economic recovery while he was crossing Shanghai. But he agreed that it was good that people were talking about the successes of Deepseek and “Ne Zha 2”, the animated blockbuster. Some investors hope that the government will announce more substantial policies during annual parliamentary sessions in March, he said.
The lawyer, like the other businessmen I interviewed, asked not to be appointed for fear of reprisals for having spoken publicly.
The Chinese media and government have announced the potential of Deepseek and AI to stimulate economic growth. In recent weeks, the three main telecommunications operators in China, the State Public Service and the major oil companies, as well as the technology giants like Tencent and Baidu, have announced partnerships with Deepseek. Some provinces have said they would integrate Deepseek models into their government service systems.
Although these agreements are good news for Deepseek and could improve the productivity of these institutions, they could be done at the expense of other artificial intelligence companies.
“The real impact of Deepseek is the destruction of other Chinese IA language models,” wrote Jielin Dong, researcher of the Chinese technological industry, “as all resources flow to Deepseek, which makes it difficult for Others to guarantee funding and market opportunities. “A founder of an AI start-up said that Deepseek was significant for China, but agreed with The assessment of Ms. Dong that he diverted funding.
The venture capital that believed that the market was too optimistic expressed its concern about what the government’s attention too much does not affect depths. The founder of the company, Liang Wenfeng, who attended the symposium with Mr. XI, is now spending time attending political meetings and pleasant officials, said venture capital.
But it is a Deepseek destiny and other successful private companies may not be able to avoid.
After the symposium, a video sketch on WeChat showed a conversation between a mandarin and a businessman from the Ming dynasty. “How should we exactly manage things to put a life on the market?” Asked the Mandarin. “Leave him alone,” replied the businessman.
The video has since been deleted.