Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to chair a symposium to boost private sector sentiment next week that will be attended by the country's business leaders including Alibaba 9988.HK co-founder Jack Ma, three people with knowledge of the meeting said.

Alibaba shares jumped 5% in overnight trading.

Xi rarely chairs symposiums about the private sector and the event underscores the numerous challenges currently facing China Inc, from the escalation in tensions with the United States under President Donald Trump to sputtering growth for the domestic economy.

Many of the entrepreneurs will be from the tech sector and Xi is expected to encourage them to expand their businesses domestically and internationally amidst an intensifying Sino-U.S. technology war, two sources said.

The symposium is likely to take place on Monday, said three sources.

Pony Ma, the CEO of tech giant Tencent 0700.HK is slated to be there, two sources said. Lei Jun, the chief executive of smartphone and electric vehicle maker Xiaomi 1810.HK as well as Wang Xingxing, the founder of robotics company Yushu Technology, are likely to attend, said one source.

An executive from Huawei Technologies HWT.UL is also expected to participate, according to two sources.

Reuters spoke to five people with knowledge of the symposium for this article, all of whom declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The State Council Information Office, which handles media queries on behalf of the state leaders, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Huawei and Yushu did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.