Japanese media have found that billionaire Jack Ma, who shook hands again with the top leader of the Chinese Communist Party, did not have his name mentioned in official news agency reports.
According to an article by Katsuji Nakazawa of the Nikkei Asian Review, a source familiar with Chinese politics, economy, and business sectors indicated that the absence of Jack Ma’s name in Xinhua News Agency reports has a deeper reason, which is related to Xi Jinping’s new slogan of “prosperity for all prompting common prosperity”.
It is undeniable that this meeting was a desperate attempt by Xi Jinping to boost the economy.
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, made a public appearance on February 17 at a high-level Communist Party meeting regarding private enterprises, sparking wide attention from overseas media.
CCTV intentionally aired a segment of the party leader shaking hands with Jack Ma at the meeting that day. However, the official meeting report released by Xinhua News Agency on the same day did not mention Jack Ma’s name at all, leading many to speculate if this Chinese billionaire has once again been swept away by another political trend.
It has been six years since Jack Ma last publicly attended such an event.
Prior to this, Xi Jinping has been cracking down on large private companies, including tech firms. Some companies have faced severe regulatory actions by the Chinese authorities over the past four years.
Nakazawa explained that Xi Jinping’s new slogan incorporates Deng Xiaoping’s concept of “getting rich first”, a political compromise that may suggest Xi himself is making some adjustments to economic ideological policies.
However, Xi Jinping is unlikely to publicly admit that pressuring tech companies in the past few years was a serious mistake. Past Communist Party leaders have always emphasized righteousness and are unlikely to admit mistakes during their lifetimes.
“Admitting mistakes could have a negative impact on Xi Jinping’s political standing before the next National Congress of the Communist Party in 2027,” Nakazawa analyzed.
This can explain why Xi allowed Jack Ma to return to the public eye but downplayed his comeback. “Shaking hands with Jack Ma and then not mentioning his name by Xinhua News Agency can save face for Xi,” Nakazawa said.
Even Chinese AI chatbots like DeepSeek expressed concerns that while the slogan “prosperity for all prompting common prosperity” emphasizes shared wealth, it may also come with government-imposed interventions.
When further questioned about the differences between Deng Xiaoping’s “getting rich first” theory and Xi’s “prosperity for all prompting common prosperity” and how they are related, the AI robot refused to answer and advised users to change the topic.