If China’s top tech execs were drowning, who would Baidu’s CEO save?

Imagine for a moment that you’re walking beside a river and all of a sudden you come upon four drowning men. Looking closer, you’re shocked to discover that you recognize all of them: flailing in the river are Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Tencent CEO Pony Ma, JD CEO Liu Qiangdong, and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. You only have time to save one of them before the waters whisk the other three away to their doom. Who do you choose?

Although it sounds strange, that’s the question that was reportedly posed to Baidu CEO Robin Li during his appearance on a talk show on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV this week. Li, after apparently considering the question for quite a while, gave his answer: Lei Jun.

Why Lei Jun? “I would save Lei Jun,” Li said, “mainly because he recently gave me a Xiaomi phone.”

It’s a ridiculous question, of course, but it’s also a fun hypothetical. Who would you save? Which one of these guys do you think is most essential to China’s tech scene?