Xiaomi’s credentials get a boost as Beijing picks smartphones as state gift

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...