When Beijing sidelined Jack Ma, China’s most prominent entrepreneur, by slamming the brakes on his business in 2020, it sent an unmistakable message that no company was above the Chinese Communist Party.

中国政府2020年对马云的业务猛踩刹车，让这位中国最杰出的企业家靠边站时，它传递了一个确定无疑的信息：任何公司都不能凌驾于中国共产党之上。

On Monday, China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, tried out a different approach.

周一，中国最高领导人习近平尝试了一个不同的方法。

Mr. Xi met with corporate chieftains, including Mr. Ma, who has largely kept out of the public eye for the past four years, in a show of support at an economically precarious time.

他出席了企业巨头们的座谈会，在经济不稳定的时候展示对他们的支持，过去四年基本上未在公开场合露面的马云也出现在座谈会上。

The heads of the electronics companies Huawei and Xiaomi, the battery maker CATL and the electric vehicle giant BYD were among the business leaders who applauded and took notes as Mr. Xi presided over the meeting, according to a video published by state media. The reports did not describe the nature of the discussions or list everyone who attended, but noted that Mr. Xi listened to the concerns of the executives.

官方媒体发布的一段视频显示，出席座谈会的有电子产品公司华为和小米的老总，还有电池制造商宁德时代的老总以及电动汽车巨头比亚迪的负责人，习近平发表讲话时，这些人不时地鼓掌并做笔记。官媒的报道没有描述他们讨论了什么，也没有给出所有与会者的名字，但指出习近平听取了高管们的发言。

It was the first gathering between Mr. Xi and corporate leaders since President Trump targeted China in a series of tariffs, which he said were aimed at reducing the enormous American trade deficit with the country. The tariffs add to a growing list of threats to China’s economy, on top a property crisis, falling prices and fragile consumer sentiment.

这是自从特朗普总统对中国征收一系列关税以来习近平与企业领导人的首次会面。特朗普称征收这些关税是为了减少美国对中国的巨大贸易逆差。中国经济已经面临房市危机、物价下跌、消费者信心不足等诸多威胁，而关税导致了威胁的增加。

The private sector has taken a back seat under Mr. Xi, who has put greater emphasis on state-owned enterprises in a drive for Chinese self-reliance. Reports over the weekend that Mr. Xi might meet with top business leaders had sparked optimism among investors that Beijing might change tack.

在习近平的领导下，中国的民营企业被置于次要地位。习近平为了推动中国自力更生而更为重视国有企业。周末有报道称习近平可能会接见商界高层人物后，在投资者中引发了政府可能会改变做法的乐观情绪。

Stocks in Hong Kong, where many major Chinese companies trade, have risen in recent weeks, driven in large part by news that DeepSeek, a Chinese start-up, had built a powerful artificial intelligence program using fewer computer chips than any Silicon Valley giant. Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek, was at the meeting on Monday, according to Chinese media.

香港股市已在最近几周出现上涨，这里是许多中国主要公司的上市地点。港股上涨在很大程度上是受有关中国初创公司DeepSeek的新闻推动，这家公司研发出一个强大的人工智能大模型，但使用的计算机芯片比所有硅谷巨头的都少。据中国媒体报道，DeepSeek的创始人梁文峰参加了周一的座谈会。

On Monday, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong initially rallied but finished the day down slightly. Stocks in mainland China rose about 0.25 percent.

香港的恒生指数周一开盘后一度上涨，但收盘时略微下跌。中国大陆的股指周一上涨了约0.25%。

The summit was one of the top topics of discussion on Weibo, a popular online platform in China, on Monday.

周一，该座谈会称为中国热门网络平台微博上的热门话题之一。

For many, the most important question ahead of the meeting was whether Mr. Ma, the Alibaba Group founder, would be in attendance.

对许多人来说，他们在开座谈会前最关心的一个问题是阿里巴巴集团的创始人马云是否会出席。

It was the first time Mr. Ma had been seen in public with Mr. Xi since the government intervened to stop the $34 billion initial public offering of Mr. Ma’s Ant Group in 2020, after the executive publicly criticized Chinese regulators for stifling innovation. The move by regulators to stop what would have been the world’s biggest I.P.O. was a key development in a multiyear government crackdown on Chinese entrepreneurs. Mr. Ma has kept largely out of the public eye since then.

马云曾在2020年公开批评中国监管机构扼杀创新，之后中国政府出面干预，阻止了马云的蚂蚁集团340亿美元的首次公开募股。这是人们在政府叫停蚂蚁IPO后第一次看到马云出现在有习近平在场的公开场合。监管机构叫停了本来有可能成为全球最大的一笔IPO，该做法是中国政府在接下来的几年里打击民营企业家的关键一步。马云在那以后基本上不再出现在公众视野中。

Fred Hu, founder of the investment firm Primavera Capital in Hong Kong, called Monday’s meeting a symbolic “course correction.”

香港投资公司春华资本的创始人胡祖六把周一的座谈会称为象征性的“路线调整”。

“In recent years the private sector has been hit by policies, politics and regulations,” he said.

“近年来，民营部门已受到政策、政治和法规的打击，”他说。

Mr. Ma’s attendance sent a message “that successful private entrepreneurs will be respected rather than penalized,” Mr. Hu added.

马云出席座谈会传递了一个信息，那就是“成功的民营企业家将受到尊重，而不是受到惩罚”，胡祖六还说。

Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment.

阿里巴巴没有回应置评请求。

While Mr. Xi’s outreach was filled with hopeful symbolism, it was not clear that it would result in substantive change for companies or help address China’s broader economic woes.

虽然习近平的到场充满了给人以希望的象征意义，但尚不清楚这是否会给企业带来实质性的变化，或是否对解决中国更广泛的经济难题有帮助。

Mr. Xi rounded up the heads of corporate China at a splashy meeting in 2018, where he emphasized the Communist Party’s support of private companies and pledged “this will not change one bit.”

习近平2018年曾在民营企业家座谈会上高调露面，他发表讲话时强调了中共对民营企业的支持，还打保票说“这一点丝毫不会动摇”。

Not long after, Beijing began to crack down on private business, rolling out regulations to curb property financing, private tutoring companies, perceived corruption in health care and pay practices financial services. In its campaigns, the party has cut off funding from state-owned banks, banned companies and detained some of China’s most famous executives and tycoons.

但没过多久，中国政府就开始打击民营企业，出台了限制房地产融资、私人课外辅导公司的法规，打击了医疗服务业被认为存在的腐败，解决了金融服务业被认为存在的薪酬过高问题。在这场运动中，中共阻止了民营企业从国有银行获得资金，取缔了一些企业，并拘留了一些中国最著名的高管和大亨。

Local governments saddled with debt have taken to fining private businesses and households and even detaining executives to drum up extra cash.

负债累累的地方政府为了竭力开源，开始对民营企业和家庭处以罚款，甚至拘留高管。

This practice has fueled a sense of insecurity among ordinary people about their financial wealth and future, said Chen Zhiwu, a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong.

香港大学金融学教授陈志武表示，这种做法加剧了普通民众对自己财富和未来的不安全感。

Last week, China’s head of economic crime prosecutions said that the government was working to “rectify profit-driven law enforcement.”

上周，中国最高人民检察院经济犯罪检察厅厅长说，政府“将整治趋利性执法”。

But experts said Beijing will need to do more to increase investment by Chinese companies and foreign businesses if it wants to create jobs and spur consumer spending. Its biggest gesture in recent months was the announcement of a $1.4 trillion plan to bail out local governments, a plan many economists said was not bold enough.

但专家们表示，如果政府想创造就业机会、刺激消费支出的话，它需要采取更多措施来增加中国企业和外国企业的投资。中国政府在最近几个月采取的最大措施是公布了一项为地方政府纾困的10万亿元计划，许多经济学家认为这项计划不够大胆。

Not even Mr. Ma’s return to the spotlight may be enough to address lingering concerns.

即使马云重返公众视野，可能也不足以驱散挥之不去的担忧。

“At the end of the day the reality is that the private business sector in China is only of value when the party needs some growth or needs to stabilize the economy,” said Mr. Chen.

“归根结底，现实情况是，中国的民营企业只是在中共需要增长或需要稳定经济时才受到重视，”陈志武说。

“Once the economy is stabilized, the private business owners would be thrown into the trash can once again.”

“一旦经济稳定下来，民营企业家们会再次被抛弃。”