back to article 'Private' biz Xiaomi sets up Communist Party exec committee

Xiaomi has formed its own internal Communist Party committee, raising eyebrows amongst those expecting less state involvement in the nation's burgeoning technology sector. The newly-launched Hong Kong Free Press reports that state-owned companies in China, including "schools, hospitals, and other public organisations, are …

  1. Desidero
    WTF?

    Xiaomi the way to go home....

    Xiaomi the way go home...

    I'm tired and I want a mobile set

    I had a committee meeting just an hour ago

    And it's still not ended yet

    Marketing by committee -

    meeting quotas by 130% since 1949.

    Let a thousand ringtones boom,

    the great beep forward

    The Long (smart) Watch...

    Velly Telly of U,

    Mao's Little Red (non-Mac) Book

    Don't mind us -

    We're just helping Capitalism

    with a Chinese face

  2. K
    Coat

    The committees ... including controlling high-level appointments.

    So looking after the interests of the State and Employees, who are its primary "investors" and ensure they stay "ethical".... because doing this is simply disgusting and outrageous!

  3. Erik4872

    This is why we should be worried

    I'm barely old enough to remember when Japan was going to take over the world in the late 80s. Their manufacturing capabilities were quite impressive, and the US had just started into the next phase of the Rust Belt era, after the first round of offshoring and southern migration of factories. I even remember they were making some high-dollar real estate purchases like Rockefeller Center in NYC, basically just for show. Business schools were starting to teach Japanese as part of the curriculum, and people were told that we had better learn Japanese ASAP, lest we be left behind. The whole thing was driven by an asset price bubble that eventually popped, but I think this time might be different.

    Why? China isn't Japan:

    - Their population is huge, with a growing middle class, so in the long run they win by numbers alone.

    - Their internal setup (de facto capitalism with central control of communism) avoids many problems associated with aligning the public and private sectors' use of resources

    - That same internal setup allows them to basically do "whatever is necessary" to expand the economy.

    Public influence over private companies is one very big difference. Like this article shows, the influence isn't secret and hidden behind political contributions. It's out in the open and the Chinese government has a say in how these companies run things.

    The other difference is the amount of resources China seems willing to sink into a rapid urbanization and middle class creation project. During the recession, they have basically poured limitless resources into construction and development projects, growing a huge infrastructure. Western governments (the US in particular) aren't even willing to fund current problems, let alone play the long game. The US can't even muster stable highway funding to replace 1950s-1970s era infrastructure. And because everything is centrally controlled in China, there's no worry of an economic collapse.

    So, I don't know - I doubt it will be an overnight takeover, but I definitely see China having a way bigger role in world economic affairs in my lifetime.

    1. tojb
      FAIL

      Re: This is why we should be worried

      And because everything is centrally controlled in China, there's no worry of an economic collapse.

      And because everything is centrally controlled in China, the inevitable economic collapse will be still more devastatingly systemic.

  4. asdf

    Hypocrisy

    Well one thing you can say is unlike the West at least China is fairly open about it. Probably an article about the NSA and a corporation whoring their customers on here somewhere like most days.

    1. Olius

      Re: Hypocrisy

      "Well one thing you can say is unlike the West at least China is fairly open about it. Probably an article about the NSA and a corporation whoring their customers on here somewhere like most days."

      Absolutely agree. This is simply protectionism, where the state recognises that companies in their country should work for the good of the country in a more long term way rather than always for short term profits, being steered where necessary.

      China lead the world in this. Do you know who the second most protectionist country in the world is? That's right - those well known commies the USA.

      (For more info on why this kind of thing sometimes is but often isn't necessarily bad, see Ha-Joon Chang's "23 things they don't tell you about capitalism")

  5. Youngone Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Private ownership?

    I'm not sure there are any private companies in China, as we would know it in the West.

    The Chinese Communist Party will do what ever it takes to keep control over the whole of China, and I'm sure that includes these large businesses.

    If the Chinese government doesn't actually have a shareholding in Xiaomi they will find some other way of exerting control.

    1. Olius

      Re: Private ownership?

      That's right. But how bad is this really for the companies (which appear to be doing rather well, overall) or for China (ditto)?

  6. Trollslayer

    The new boys network

    As opposed to the old boys network we have?

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