China Favors Chips, AI Executives Over Internet Tycoons at Top Political Meetings

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday. A number of prominent Chinese internet executives have been left out of the country's top political meetings in Beijing this week, giving way to experts in artificial intelligence and semiconductors as Chinese leader Xi Jinping 's priorities shift amid rising technology competition with the U.S. Pony Ma , Robin Li and William Ding , the chief executives of Chinese internet companies Tencent Holdings Ltd., Baidu Inc. and NetEase Inc. respectively, are conspicuous in their absence from this year's list of delegates to…