Xi's new corporate champions showcase his priorities and control

When Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted entrepreneurs at a rare meeting in Beijing in 2018, the executives granted coveted front-row seats came from industries ranging from tech to energy, and few were familiar names. Fast-forward seven years and that line-up has changed markedly as Beijing buckles down to navigate a deepening technology war with the United States and celebrate powerful Chinese firms that have triumphed in the face of U.S. pressure. On Monday, Xi mobilized to the front lines a private sector battalion that included the founders of electric-car maker BYD, tech giants Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi as well as artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek.