Alibaba founder Jack Ma was notably absent from a list of China’s leading entrepreneurs published by state media on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported. 

Ma, who has created some of his country’s largest corporations, was not featured in a Shanghai Securities News front-page commentary that celebrated the leading tech entrepreneurs in China. Instead, the official Xinhua News Agency backed paper featured Pony Ma of Tencent Holdings Group as “rewriting the mobile age”, along with Xiaomi Corp co-founder Lei Jun and Huawei Technologies Co’s Ren Zhengfei.

“A generation of Chinese entrepreneurs emerged from the rigid structures of our old economic system with the desire to escape poverty and passion to achieve business ambitions,” the newspaper wrote, according to Bloomberg. 

Also read: Alibaba’s shares surge to HK$265 as founder Jack Ma reappears

Following the editorial, shares of Tencent and Xiaomi rose more than 2% on Tuesday. 

Jack Ma’s absence is significant given the fact that Shanghai Securities News is one of the most important business publications in China. 

The billionaire resurfaced last month after his disappearance from the public eye late last year. His severe criticism of Chinese regulators in his speech in October prompted a backlash by Beijing, which involved a crackdown on his e-commerce company and its finances.