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.
"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.
