The once-sidelined Alibaba founder was among the executives who met with Xi Jinping, in what was seen as a show of support for private enterprise by Beijing.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and the country’s top tech executives in Beijing on Monday, in a meeting that signals officials could be steering the country in a more business-friendly direction after a yearslong regulatory crackdown.

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

The life of Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba. He grew up poor in China and was rejected from multiple jobs before finding success in tech.

Hi, this is Allen Wan in Shanghai, reminiscing about the time I went on a wild chase to track down Jack Ma, one of China’s most famous entrepreneurs.

Alibaba has branched out from its original B2B e-commerce roots, developing thriving logistics arms and financial spin-offs such as Ant Group. Its cloud division, Alibaba Cloud, already hosts significant R&D operations worldwide and recently launched its own AI offering, QWen, available to iPhone users in China via a dedicated app.

Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei, BYD’s Wang Chuanfu, and Xiaomi’s Lei Jun were among the leading tech executives who met with Xi Jinping on Monday.

The Chinese president’s symbolic handshake this week with exiled billionaire Jack Ma shows Beijing needs tech entrepreneurs to revive the economy.

(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of Jack Ma, co-founder of China’s most successful tech empire and billionaire entrepreneur. Education: Hangzhou Teachers College, 1988; Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, M.B.A. Ma showed foreign tourists around his hometown as a child to improve his English.

Xi is permitting Ma’s return, but he has not fully reinstated him. The government may be offering him a chance to contribute again — but with strict conditions.

Ma's appearance at the meeting signals Beijing's desire to inject confidence into the private sector. Read more at straitstimes.com.

As soon as details started to trickle out from Monday’s meeting between China‘s President Xi Jinping ... possible attendance of Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who has largely kept a low profile ...