China demands companies like DJI to surrender with absolute loyalty

O NY Times had a really interesting article that shines a light on what the Chinese government expects of the private sector, which would include companies such as DJI. It says that the government demands from Chinese private businesses to “surrender with absolute loyalty,” and for business people to “firmly listen to the party and follow the party,” to help make China great again.

It makes you wonder if, and to what extent, the dronemaker DJI has been affected by this aggressive government approach and whether the exodus, as one former DJI employee called it, of people leaving the dronemaker is in any way related.

China demands private companies like DJI to surrender with absolute loyalty

The newspaper reports that the increasingly autocratic Chinese government uses a very aggressive antitrust campaign to bring tech companies in line with its priorities. Companies such as Tencent, Didi Chuxing, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, and the ANT Group have already had run-ins with the government.

Benjamin Qiu, a partner at the law firm Loeb & Loeb in Hong Kong is quoted as saying that the government approach aimed at a specific company amounts to “a shock-therapy type of enforcement.” He added that “we could see more control by the state, with in-effect data nationalization as the end result.”

Last year, the communist party pointed out in no uncertain terms that within the private sector, it requires “politically sensible people” who will “firmly listen to the party and follow the party.” It continued to say that these folks “contribute more to the longevity of the Communist Party and help make China great again, the party said.”

The article even goes as far as saying that the Chinese government expects businesses to show their contribution to society and help to advance the goals of the government without causing any trouble.

While the article refers to various Chinese businesses, it does not mention DJI. And, it is unclear at this point if DJI has been affected in any way, but as the world’s largest dronemaker it is hard to imagine that it would fly under the radar of the government. We do know that over the last two years, DJI has made some extensive reorganizations during which a large number of people in DJI offices around the world had been let go. In addition to these organizational changes, or maybe because of them, other people decided to leave DJI saying that the drone maker had become too China-focussed.

Related articles

• DJI’s ‘Game of Drones’ – Chinese drone maker loses talent
• DJI Palo Alto office: drone maker reduces workforce as part of Long March reforms
• More DJI employees in Palo Alto office to be let go this week
• DJI’s Head of US R&D, Hai Vo is leaving drone maker
• DJI fires video production team in Los Angeles
• DJI’s Long March reforms not over as indicated by most recent changes
• Romeo Durscher, Senior Director for Public Safety Integration leaves DJI
• Two more executives have left DJI North America

We will reach out to some of our DJI sources to see if we can find out more on this topic. Stay tuned.

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