China's top tech entrepreneurs expressed confidence in China's development prospects at a conference on February 17 chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to People's Daily , speaking at the event, Mr. Ren Zhengfei - founder of Huawei, a company that has struggled with US sanctions - said that concerns about the shortage of chips and domestic operating systems - the soul of modern technology - have been eased.

The 80-year-old businessman “is convinced that a stronger China is rising at a rapid pace.”

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Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei at a conference on February 17. Photo: Xinhua

Lei Jun, CEO of smartphone and electric vehicle maker Xiaomi, said there is nothing China cannot overcome, despite changes in the international landscape. He added that Xiaomi’s revenue grew more than 30% after two years of decline.

The Feb. 17 conference, which brought together some of China’s most prominent private sector figures, comes as Beijing shows resilience in the face of U.S. export controls aimed at hampering technological progress.

Breakthroughs like DeepSeek's AI model are seen as the mainland's secret weapon for surviving the trade war.

Founder and CEO Luong Van Phong also attended the conference but did not speak.

Wang Xingxing, founder and CEO of Unitree Robotics, the youngest entrepreneur present, proudly shared with Xi that his humanoid robot development team was “born and raised in China.”

In response, the Chinese President said the country's innovation activities need contributions from the younger generation.

Ngu Nhan Vinh, founder of Will Semiconductor - the only chip entrepreneur at the conference - said that local content continues to increase in the semiconductor supply chain.

Meanwhile, Wang Chuanfu, chairman of electric vehicle maker BYD, shared his experience of growing his business “from scratch.” Liu Yonghao, founder of the country’s largest animal feed maker New Hope, explained how agricultural businesses can thrive by adopting new technologies.

In addition to the six figures mentioned above, the conference was also attended by dozens of other businessmen, including Jack Ma - founder of Alibaba, Pony Ma Huateng - Chairman of Tencent.

Media said the event was aimed at boosting confidence in China's private sector, emphasizing the role of "national champions" in the technology sector in reviving the country's economy.

Here, the head of Tencent said that the domestic business environment will continue to improve, and revealed plans to increase investment in technological innovation to accelerate the development and application of large language models.

(According to SCMP)