Adds Bloomberg report that DeepSeek founder to attend in paragraph 7; context in paragraphs 19-21 and updates share reaction

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.

Xi rarely chairs symposiums about the private sector and the event underscores the numerous challenges facing China Inc, from escalating 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. News of the symposium was first reported by Reuters.

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.

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

Bloomberg News reported that DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng will attend. The artificial intelligence startup has rocked the tech world with models it says it developed at a fraction of the cost of Western rivals.

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 Reuters query about the event.

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

Hong Kong-listed shares in Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi extended gains in afternoon trade on the news. Xiaomi finished at a record high with a 7% gain. Tencent also closed 7% higher while Alibaba ended up 6%.

CONFIDENCE BOOST

Xi first chaired a high-profile symposium for the private sector in late 2018, six years after he came to power. At the time, he pledged tax cuts and a level playing field while reaffirming that private companies would have access to financial backing.

Attendance by Jack Ma at the planned symposium has the potential to boost business confidence.

The once high-profile entrepreneur largely withdrew from public life after the IPO of his fintech company Ant was halted by authorities in 2020 – a move triggered by a speech he gave that year criticising China's regulatory system.

His business empire and the wider technology industry were then targeted by a regulatory crackdown, with his time out of the limelight symbolising a reversal of fortunes for China's private sector.

In recent years, Xi has emphasised China's need to achieve "common prosperity", saying private firms should be "rich and loving" as well as "patriotic" and share the fruits of their growth with employees more equitably.

His remarks have been taken as discouraging excesses in a number of industries and acting as brakes on riskier investments.

DeepSeek founder Liang's attendance will further burnish the start-up's newfound status as potentially one of the biggest disruptors to the global AI industry. Last month, he gave a speech at a closed-door symposium hosted by Premier Li Qiang.

Xi has long stressed the need for China to achieve self-sufficiency in semiconductors and wants the country to use AI to drive economic development.

But China's efforts have been hampered by export control measures on chips imposed by Washington which is worried Beijing could use advanced semiconductors to boost its military capabilities.

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Edwina Gibbs)

((sumeet.chatterjee@tr.com))