fredag 2. november 2018

Why China's tech giants are cozying up to the Communist Party

China's biggest ride-hailing company has a new plan to beef up customer service: hire 1,000 members of the ruling Communist Party. The move by Didi Chuxing, a $56 billion startup, shows how leading Chinese tech firms, once hesitant to advertise political connections, are now increasingly promoting their ties to the party — especially after running into trouble with authorities.

"Tech entrepreneurs are seeking to burnish their party credentials, gain brownie points," said Duncan Clark, the chairman of Beijing-based investment advisory firm BDA. The Communist Party once controlled virtually all aspects of China's economy, but reforms launched 40 years ago helped create a vast, dynamic private sector. The party retains its grip on political power and state-owned firms, but its relationship with the tech companies that have flourished with the spread of the internet is more complex.