People 'underestimate' the importance of Chinese President Xi's entrepreneur meeting: Alibaba's Tsai

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Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting with entrepreneurs last month gave businesses confidence to make investments, Chairman of Alibaba Group Joe Tsai said at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on Wednesday.

"People underestimate the importance of that meeting," he said. "What that meeting did to the entire entrepreneur sector, or ... the private business sector, is it gave private business people confidence to make investments in their business."

Last month, Xi held a closed-door symposium with some of the country's most prominent business leaders, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, in a rare show of support for the long-sidelined sector.

Beijing urged the entrepreneurs to "show their talents" and maintain their competitive spirit, in a move seen as a shift of stance following the multi-year effort to reign in some of the country's largest technology companies over concerns that they were growing too large and powerful.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma's attendance at the meeting, presided by Xi, was seen as a highly symbolic.

The outspoken businessman has mostly stayed out of the public eye since Chinese authorities scuttled a blockbuster initial public offering of Alibaba affiliate Ant Group in late 2020, after his public criticism of the country's regulatory system enraged Beijing.

The summit last month indicated a softer stance from Beijing toward the companies it is betting on to bolster its faltering economy, as sluggish domestic demand dragged on growth.

When asked to comment on the state of China's domestic consumption, Tsai said consumers are "standing on the sidelines waiting to spend" with a "very, very strong" household balance sheet. "What's going to get them