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Smartphone giant Xiaomi briefly took the spotlight during Saturday’s meeting between President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jae-myung, as a pair of the company’s handsets were presented as gifts by China’s head of state. The selection of its flagship consumer product as a state gift reflected Xiaomi’s growing status as a symbol of China’s technological ambitions, according to analysts, more than 15 years since the company was founded. The pair of Xiaomi handsets were presented to Lee when the two leaders exchanged gifts during their meeting on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which concluded on Saturday, at the coastal city of Gyeongju. Xi’s interpreter pointed out that the displays on the Xiaomi smartphones were made in South Korea. In a witty exchange that elicited a burst of laughter, Lee asked: “Is the line secure?”, according to a report by the Korea AngJoong Daily. Xi replied through an interpreter: “You can check if there is a back door.” Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. The specific models of the smartphones have not been disclosed. This marked the first known instance when Xiaomi’s smartphones were presented as state gifts to a foreign head of state. Last month, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro publicly praised a Huawei Technologies Mate X6 smartphone that was reportedly gifted to him by Xi. Maduro described the handset as “the best phone in the world” and claimed that US spies cannot hack it. “The [Xiaomi smartphone gift giving] is a significant move in both tech diplomacy and national pride,” said Su Lian Jye, chief analyst at tech consultancy Omdia. That move underscored China’s confidence in its domestic tech brands amid geopolitical tensions, according to Su. It also promoted the broader Chinese tech sector’s “confidence in local innovation and self-reliance”, he added. Xiaomi ranked as the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor in the third quarter, behind Samsung Electronics and Apple, according to data from research firm IDC. The Beijing-based company has also become a player in China’s highly competitive electric vehicle market, which it entered in 2021. The company’s first model was released in December 2023. Getting its products selected as a state gift also showed Xiaomi’s growing recognition as one of China’s leading technology brands, according to Sanyam Chaurasia, principal analyst at market consultancy Canalys. “It highlighted how Xiaomi’s products have evolved to present premium quality design and innovation that aligned with the country’s ambition to move up the value chain in the consumer space,” Chaurasia said. Xiaomi’s Hong Kong-listed shares gained 3.52 per cent to close at HK$44.72 on Monday. The company in September launched its latest flagship 17-series smartphones, which founder and CEO Lei Jun said already “surpassed [Apple’s] iPhone 17 series in many areas”. That included the latest models’ thin design and a new imaging system, suitable for backlight photography, that was developed through a partnership with German optical giant Leica.
