Chinese tech executives show support towards ‘common prosperity’

Chinese technology execs have agreed to support Beijing’s ‘common prosperity’ drive and to help smaller companies.

Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, spoke in a conference organised by China’s top internet regulator and announced that Alibaba’s $15 billion plan to promote common prosperity in China was “steadily advancing.”

Zhang said that common prosperity, China’s term for reducing the gap between rich and poor, is “not just a number”, and stressed that the importance of helping local talent in poor regions is like teaching “a man to fish”.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger and Tesla’s founder Elon Musk provided video remarks at the conference as well.

Common prosperity has recently emerged as a slogan after President Xi Jinping used it in public talks.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun called on large tech companies to aid small and midsize firms, stating that they must “not let any group fall behind.”

Adding to the conversation, founding partner of Sequoia Capital China Neil Shen spoke in recorded remarks and praised a planned tech bourse in Beijing as helping smaller firms.