The "Salute China's Economy — Entrepreneur Night 2026" program has officially launched its endorsement platform. Since 2015, this initiative, organized by Sina Finance and other institutions, has been dedicated to honoring the entrepreneurial community. With the theme "Saluting the Driving Force of the New Era," the event evaluates candidates across five dimensions — innovation, disruptiveness, forward-looking vision, growth potential, and sustainability — to thoroughly map the trajectory of China's economic and industrial development, uncover outstanding entrepreneurial role models, and champion the spirit of dedication to industry, bold innovation, and proactive responsibility that defines entrepreneurs of the new era. Each year at the gala, the organizing committee combines public endorsements and expert recommendations to ultimately invite ten entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional performance during the year to share their entrepreneurial journeys and exchange innovative ideas.
Xiaomi Corp. (HKEX: 01810) founder, Chairman, and CEO Lei Jun is a disruptor who rides the tide, combining bold risk-taking with meticulous pragmatism to build a company that reached the Fortune Global 500 within just ten years. Starting from Kingsoft, he later transitioned into an angel investor before founding Xiaomi in 2010, reshaping the smartphone industry through an internet-driven model and taking the company public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018.
In 2021, he staked his entire reputation on entering the smart electric vehicle sector. By 2026, Xiaomi's strategy has been fully upgraded to a "Human-Car-Home full ecosystem," with the group selected for the Fortune Global 500 for eight consecutive years and climbing to 232nd place, a historic high. Xiaomi Auto's cumulative deliveries have surpassed 800,000 units, with monthly deliveries exceeding 40,000 units in September alone. The newly launched Pengcheng range-extended series surpassed 10,000 units in deliveries within its first month, becoming a new growth engine.
He has announced that R&D investment over the next five years will exceed 200 billion yuan, focusing on three core hard-tech foundations — chips, operating systems, and artificial intelligence — vowing to forge Xiaomi from a consumer electronics giant into a global technology leader in the AI era. Speaking at the 2026 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference, Lei Jun stated that without safety, everything else in the auto industry amounts to zero; without safety, all intelligent performance and innovative designs lose their meaning.
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