Chinese internet leaders Jack Ma and Pony Ma call for ‘core technology’ ownership after US ban on ZTE

Chinese internet giants Alibaba and Tencent are calling for the country’s enterprises to own “core technology” amid a debate over its dependence on foreign know-how after the US government banned American firms from doing business with Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp.

China needs more companies to play a major role in key technology developments to solve future problems and keep the country competitive amid global competition, Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holdings, said on Sunday.

“It is the compelling obligation for big companies to compete in core technology,” Ma said during the first Digital China Summit in Fuzhou. “A real company is not determined by its market value or market share, but how much responsibility it takes and whether it has mastered core and key technologies.”

Ma also called for a “digital economy law” to guide the development of internet companies, saying that such regulation is needed to deal with the challenges brought on with the coming of the internet of things, which will bring with it an explosion in volume of data.

Speaking at the same event, Tencent Holdings chairman Pony Ma said it is becoming increasingly urgent for Chinese enterprises to make breakthroughs in the ownership of core technology.