Who are the Chinese leaders who drive the technology of the Asian giant? Is there such a powerful businessman and capable of influencing government decisions?
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Technology is an important factor in the world stage. Chinese President Xi Jinping knows very well and in February promoted a meeting with Chinese technology managers to give them their support. According to the Bloomberg agency, it promised to abolish the unreasonable rates or fines against private companies and level the competition.
Companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, or the innovative Deepseek, which surprised a month ago with its artificial intelligence tool.
For researcher Manuel Santillán, the contexts are different and “In China the relationship between technology and power works differently”. In that case, it indicates that the word “technoauthoritarianism” has been coined.
“Entrepreneurs do not have the same political autonomy as their American counterparts. It is not a secret that the Chinese communist party maintains strong control over the private sector and any billionaire that wins too much political influence can become a problem for the government”he indicated a Commerceand highlighted the case of Jack Ma, owner of Alibaba, who withdrew from public activities for his criticisms of regulations.
And it was at that meeting with Xi Jinping that the presence of Jack Ma caught attention. It was a positive signal for Chinese business. The president encouraged technological leaders to maintain his competitive spirit.
Santillán explains that the business is subordinated to the decisions of the Chinese party; although it is also because “Prioritize political stability and state planning, integrating technological innovation into its development strategy, but always under the control of the party”.
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Does China have an Elon Musk?
Among the United States billionaire celebrities there is one that stands out: Elon Musk. Today he is considered the richest man in the world, with a personal fortune that exceeds 400 billion dollars. However, their participation in politics seems to be affected its assets and the investments of its companies.
Musk leads the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in the management of Donald Trump, the group whose mission is to cut public spending and improve the efficiency of the government apparatus.
Is there any technological leader in China with such influence?
Santillán explains that it is not a secret that technological billionaires have even invested in political campaigns of USA. Musk He has used his influence to mold debates on energy, transport and even geopolitics. Instead, “In China this is unthinkable”.
“In China there is no Elon Musk that can challenge the government or mark the political agenda. Technological entrepreneurs can be very powerful economically, but only within the limits imposed by the Chinese Communist Party ”indicated the professor at the University of Lima.
There are still many technological figures. One of them is Jack at60 -year -old businessman and founder of Alibaba, one of the most important electronic commerce companies in China and also invests in artificial intelligence. Other figures are Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei; Robin Li, founder of Baidu, also known as the “Chinese Google”; Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi, among others.
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Richest Chinese leaders
Chinese technological leaders also stand out for their personal wealth. That is, they accumulate billions of dollars.
At the end of 2024 the magazine specialized in Finance Forbes published a list of the 100 richest Chinese entrepreneurs and exceeds the billion dollars. Among the top ten places, nine belong to the technological field and only one is dedicated to drinks and pharmaceutical products: Zhong Shanshanfounder of the company Nongfu Spring, and who heads the list for the fourth consecutive year with 50.8 billion dollars.
In second place is Ma Huatengfounder of Tencent Holdings, an Internet company in China that has ventured into the development of artificial intelligence, video games on social networks. It has 46.8 billion dollars.
If you use Tiktok, the name of the next entrepreneur should care. Zhang Yiming He is the founder of Bytedonce, the parent house of the social network that competes with Facebook, Tiktok, YouTube and other platforms. It has a fortune of 45.6 billion dollars.
Another technological leader is Colin Huang Zhengfounder of Pinduoduo or PDD Holdings, dedicated to electronic commerce. In addition, he owns Temu. His fortune amounts to 43.9 billion dollars. But not only is investment in trade. Robin Zeng Yuqun He is an engineer and businessman who has stood out for the manufacture of batteries with the firm Catl. It has a fortune that reaches 37.1 billion dollars.
The following on the payroll are He XiangjianMidea owner, the largest appliance firm in China. It has a fortune of 28.6 billion dollars. William Dingfounder of Netease, one of the online games companies, and that accumulates 27.4 billion dollars.
Had already been mentioned Jack atthe founder of Alibaba and one of the most influential business figures in China. It has 25.2 billion dollars. The automotive sector could not be missing. In this case, the name of Wang Chuanfufounder of Byd, the electric car company that dominates the market and competes with Tesla, by Elon Musk. You can also count on Lei Junfounder of Xiaomi that accumulates 19.9 billion dollars.
The list is much longer, with technological leaders of firms that are today part of our day to day.