By Edward Tse

2025-2-25

China’s young elite, driven not just to challenge tech frontiers but to share it all with the masses, are overturning expectations

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior government officials met a group of prominent Chinese tech entrepreneurs in Beijing last week. That neither the property nor finance sector was represented sent a clear signal of the government’s priority.

Attendees included Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding (which owns the South China Morning Post), Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun, Tencent founder and CEO Pony Ma Huateng, BYD chairman and CEO Wang Chuanfu and Huawei Technologies founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei. Other business leaders included CATL chairman Robin Zeng Yuqun and DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, as well as Wang Xingxing, founder of robotics company Unitree, and Liu Yonghao, chairman of animal feed producer New Hope.

This meeting came at a significant time in China’s development. While China was able to achieve an economic growth of 5 per cent and a record-breaking trade surplus of 7.27 trillion yuan (US$992.2 billion) last year – on the back of a slew of fiscal and monetary stimulus towards the end of the year – there were doubts about its ability to sustain growth.

In this context, its recent high-profile technological breakthroughs have been eye-catching. We saw advances in military equipment: a sixth-generation stealth combat aircraft, a new amphibious assault carrier and hypersonic air-to-air missiles, among others. Notable achievements also emerged in nuclear fusion and high-speed railway technologies.

The most reported development was probably the launch of AI models from artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek. Offering capabilities comparable to leading US models from OpenAI and Meta but at a fraction of the cost, DeepSeek is disrupting the AI industry and making AI much more available to the masses. Other leading Chinese AI models, like Alibaba’s Qwen and ByteDance’s Goku, are similarly driving change.

Last week’s Beijing meeting sent clear signs of government support for technology-driven innovation and entrepreneurship, continuing the Made in China 2025 initiative launched in 2015.

Along the way, episodes such as crackdowns on Chinese internet platforms’ monopolistic tactics and after-school tutoring as well as the halting of Ant Group’s initial public offering (IPO) caused people to say Beijing did not treat private-sector companies as well as state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

I do not believe that. In my view, Beijing has always supported private companies alongside SOEs, as both sectors play vital though distinct roles. While occasional tensions may arise, especially when they compete in overlapping industries, they are more often complementary.

SOEs facilitate the country’s infrastructure and offer utility services at reasonable rates. Businesses of all types benefit from these conditions. The dual structure is a defining feature of China’s economy.

Since China’s reform and opening up four decades ago, entrepreneurship has undergone a remarkable transformation. As China’s economy evolved, so did the nature of entrepreneurs and their ventures. What is common is entrepreneurs’ will to strive for success, and an ability to align with national development priorities.

Over the past decade, Beijing’s call for “high-quality growth” has spurred entrepreneurs to pursue technology-driven innovation. While many face challenges, those who succeed often become game changers in China and globally.

While many “older” entrepreneurs are still working hard, a new generation is emerging. Unlike many of their predecessors who built on the wireless internet, this generation of Chinese entrepreneurs ride on “hard tech”. DeepSeek’s Liang, Unitree’s Wang and Game Science’s Feng Ji represent some of the best of the present cohort. Just before them came DJI’s Frank Wang Tao, ByteDance’s Zhang Yiming and others. There are many others across China.

These people are relatively young and first-generation entrepreneurs. They built their business on developing or applying technology. The common threads are AI, algorithms, robotics, automation and animated media.

Most importantly, many of them embrace a notion of idealism. They are not just making technical breakthroughs but also embracing the implications of what they do for humanity. Liang’s willingness to make DeepSeek’s technology open-source is a prime example.

This kind of thinking is natural for Chinese elites. After all, a sense of responsibility is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Steeped in the long history of Chinese civilisation while absorbing global knowledge – particularly from the West – these entrepreneurs blend national pride with a global vision.

With technological innovation being the bedrock for China’s high-quality growth, private enterprises will play an increasingly central role. The Beijing meeting underscored the political leadership’s endorsement of the private sector and entrepreneurship.


This new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs are tech-savvy and, I believe, motivated by a purpose that is aligned with China’s definition of Chinese-style modernisation. People should expect a major take-off in China’s innovative capability and output. And that will have a major impact on the world.

Edward Tse is founder and CEO of Gao Feng Advisory Company, a strategy consultancy with roots in China assisting clients on global business and management issues. He previously headed Greater China operations for two major international management consulting firms for over 20 years, and is the author of The China Strategy and China’s Disruptors.

Gao Feng Advisory 

Gao Feng Advisory Company  is a professional strategy and management consulting as well as investment advisory firm with roots in China coupled with global vision, capabilities, and a broad resources network