Analysis-Xi's new frontline corporate guard showcases his priorities, control

By Eduardo Baptista and Brenda Goh

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - When 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 high-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 mobilised to the frontlines a private sector battalion that included the founders of electric car maker BYD, tech giants Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi as well as AI start-up DeepSeek.

The firms, most of which are giants in their sectors and controversial abroad, are key to achieving Xi's belief that "new productive forces" are needed for China to escape its middle-income trap, compete with the United States and revitalise a stubbornly sluggish domestic economy, analysts said.

"The line-up of entrepreneurs suggests that Xi's priority for the private sector is for it to support his goals of achieving technological self-reliance and supply-chain security," said Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Indeed, the global and domestic backdrop for this week's meeting stood in stark contrast to the situation in 2018, when growth was still robust and the geopolitical landscape had not deteriorated to the present point, despite a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term.

By contrast, the symposium held that year drafted companies from across industries that included many smaller firms, such as software engineering firm Neusoft and car parts manufacturer Wanxiang. Tencent and Baidu attended, according to local media, but were not given front-row seats.

"The mentality of the Chinese leadership has changed," said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, head of The Conference Board's China Center, a think tank.

"It’s a hard pill for them to swallow, but compared to 2018 they are now recognising that these Chinese tech companies' contribution to economic growth is greater than they previously believed," Montufar-Helu said.

In the highly choreographed meeting, Xi urged the tycoons to "show their talent" and be confident in the power of China's model and market, while ensuring that private companies could compete on equal terms with state-owned companies.

"The new line-up of entrepreneurs that Xi met with represent the cutting-edge technology that Beijing wants to see succeed to drive new economic growth," said Paul Triolo, partner and technology policy lead for DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group.