- Alibaba’s Ma returned to China last week, sources say
- The Hangzhou school he founded said he visited on Monday
- Premier Li Qiang urged Ma to return to the mainland from 2022 – sources
- Ma’s absence underscored the sober mood of the sober private sector
HONG KONG/BEJING, March 27 (Portal) – Alibaba (9988.HK) founder Jack Ma has returned to China, ending a more than year-long stint abroad which the industry has described as reflecting the sober and restless mood of Chinese people Private enterprise was seen as politicians trying to stimulate the economy.
The return of China’s best-known entrepreneur could help ease concerns among the country’s private companies after a grueling two-year official crackdown. His public reappearance supports the government’s softer tone towards the private sector as leaders seek to shore up an economy battered by three years of COVID lockdowns.
Online discussions claiming Ma was in China began surfacing on Chinese social media early Monday, and his return has been confirmed by a school he attended and Alibaba-owned newspaper South China Morning Post.
Ma, a former English teacher, discussed topics such as the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT and also said he hopes to teach again one day during his visit, the Yungu school shared on its official WeChat account. The school was founded in 2017 by Ma and other Alibaba founders in Hangzhou, the hometown of the e-commerce giant.
He returned to China last week, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Portal could not determine how long he intends to stay in China this time.
Mas’ return “bolsters sentiment for the broader platform, the internet industry,” said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.
“Because it means that the new top leadership has actually reviewed the position and importance of platform companies in China’s economic development. The previous restrictive policies in the platform and internet sectors are also expected to be adjusted,” Zhang said.
Alibaba shares rose more than 4% after news of Ma’s return, before giving back some of their gains.
LIS REQUEST
Ma’s stint abroad has come to symbolize the turning point in the country’s private sector after his empire and the tech industry were the targets of Beijing’s official crackdown.
A speech Ma delivered in 2020, in which he criticized China’s regulatory system, is widely believed to have sparked tighter government scrutiny and prompted his public retreat. He left mainland China in late 2021 and has been featured in photographs in Japan, Spain, Australia and Thailand.
While Chinese authorities recently said they would relax crackdowns and support the private sector, Chinese entrepreneurs and investors said they view Ma’s decision to remain abroad as a factor hampering confidence.
Recognizing this, China’s new premier Li Qiang has been asking Ma to return to the mainland since late last year, hoping it would boost business confidence among entrepreneurs, five sources with knowledge of the matter told Portal.
Some of those efforts included asking people close to Ma, like his business partners, to personally convince the Alibaba founder while he was living in Japan, two of the sources said.
Portal couldn’t immediately determine whether Ma had returned as a result of Li’s efforts.
Alibaba and the State Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Li, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, has been at the forefront of government efforts to boost the private sector and said earlier this month that the country’s entrepreneurial environment is improving and that Beijing will treat all firms equally.
However, companies are hesitant, privately citing a lack of new supporting policies and the new regulatory framework that the crackdown had brought.
This view is shared by longtime Asia analyst Fraser Howie, who has written several books on China’s financial system.
“I can see that kind of signals relaxation, but none of the laws and institutions that have been put in place to control the private sector have changed,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter to the private sector because he’s already beaten. The state has won, Jack has lost control, power, wealth and is not coming back.”
Reporting by Julie Zhu, Kane Wu, Kevin Huang and Xu Jing; Additional coverage by David Kirton, Josh Horwitz and the Beijing Newsroom; writing by Brenda Goh; Edited by Gerry Doyle, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christian Schmollinger
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