How China's protectionism has created tech billionaires who protect Xi

Newest delegates to China's CPPCC are tech entrepreneurs

China’s tech giants will add star power to the country’s political festivities this week, paying homage to President Xi Jinping and endorsing constitutional changes for him to remain president indefinitely. Amid the annual legislative meetings, the luminaries have important business: Preserving their grip on a 1.4 billion-person market protected from global competitors.

The government’s censorship rules often look to the outside world like a burden Chinese tech companies have to endure just like foreign players, but the country’s Great Firewall has also been a boon for homegrown internet players. The system of control and outright blockades effectively keeps Facebook, Twitter,