Xi Remade China's Tech Industry in His Own Image With Crackdown
Chinese hardware companies have made huge strides against their internet peers as Beijing vies with the US for critical tech supremacy
Xi has made science and technology pillars of his long-term vision for China's national wellbeing.
Photographer: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has used policy, capital and outright decree to mold the world's No. 2 economy in his own image. After over a decade in power, an intensifying struggle for tech leadership with the US and a sputtering domestic economy suggest he'll have to once again recalibrate the country's giant internet and manufacturing sectors.
The 69-year-old leader has a complex relationship with his domestic tech sector. Xi has made science and technology pillars of his long-term vision for China's national wellbeing, and he's placed a priority on researching homegrown alternatives to foreign-made semiconductors to ensure reliable supply. The latest salvo: Beijing this week barred Micron Technology Inc. memory chips from sensitive infrastructure applications.