China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has praised several major tech companies for their contributions to China's technological progress and economic growth.

This signals a shift in Beijing's stance towards Big Tech firms. In a meeting with representatives from these companies, Chinese Premier Li Qiang discussed ways to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy. The meeting, which focused on ways to boost the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy, was attended by Alibaba Cloud, Meituan, ByteDance-owned Douyin, and Xiaohongshu, according to a report by state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). Premier Li highlighted the platform economy as a driver of innovation and rising demand. The positive recognition from the NDRC focused on Tencent's investment in AI chips and service robots, Alibaba's innovations in agriculture and services, and Meituan's investments in chips and industrial robots.

This turnaround in attitude towards tech companies marks a departure from previous antitrust and data security crackdowns. In the first five months of the year, Chinese internet firms saw a significant increase in profits, following a big turn by the Chinese government in late 2022 when it began to highlight the positive role played by internet platforms.