China is recalibrating its tech policy, elevating private enterprise to counter US export controls and drive innovation.

By Jianli Yang

On June 10, 2025, as US and Chinese trade negotiators met in London for another round of tense talks, a different kind of negotiation was playing out on the front page of China’s People’s Daily. There, in a prominent and unprecedented display, appeared an extensive interview with Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei—a private entrepreneur given the kind of media platform previously reserved for the highest echelons of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Seasoned observers of Chinese politics recognized immediately that such editorial prominence would be impossible without the approval—likely the orchestration—of China’s paramount leader, Xi Jinping himself. The headline, “The More Open a Country Is, the More It Drives Us to Progress,” was more than a message about business. It was a political signal, a rallying cry, and a strategic recalibration in China’s approach to technology, private enterprise, and its contest with the United States.

A New Bargain Is Emerging Between Private Tech and the Party

For much of the past decade, China’s private tech sector has operated in a climate of uncertainty. The regulatory crackdown that began in 2021—targeting giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and Didi—sent a chill through the entrepreneurial class. Jack Ma, once the face of Chinese innovation, vanished from public view. Investment slowed, risk-taking waned, and the message from Beijing was clear: private capital would be tolerated, but only if it stayed within Party-defined boundaries.

But the world has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of global supply chains. The rise of generative AI—first in the West, then in China—reshuffled the technological deck. Meanwhile, the US doubled down on export controls, blacklists, and restrictions on Chinese access to advanced chips. In this new context, Ren’s interview marks a recalibration. The Party is not relinquishing control over the tech sector, but it is signaling a new openness to private initiative, so long as it serves the national interest.

Ren Zhengfei’s prominence in People’s Daily is no accident. His credibility, forged in the crucible of US sanctions and the high-profile detention of his daughter, Meng Wanzhou, lends weight to the new narrative: private enterprise is not just tolerated, but essential to China’s technological future. As one Chinese commentator observed, “People’s Daily is using Ren Zhengfei’s voice to say: the country has not given up on private enterprise. In fact, private firms remain the main force in breaking through the technology blockade.”

 

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https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techland/recalibrating-chinas-tech-nationalism-takeaways-from-huawei-founders-peoples-daily-interview

 

This article first appeared in National Interest on June 23, 2025