Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been seen publicly in China for the first time in several months. The billionaire’s reappearance may indicate Beijing is softening its stance on the tech sector after an 18-month crackdown.
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Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been spotted in China after spending months abroad, in a possible sign Beijing is warming to tech giants again after some 18 months of crackdown on the sector.
According to a WeChat post from the school, Ma visited Yungu School in Hangzhou, the city where Alibaba is headquartered, to speak with teachers about how to educate children in the age of artificial intelligence.
The billionaire said technologies like the popular ChatGPT have presented challenges to education, but artificial intelligence can be used to solve problems, according to the WeChat post.
It is Ma’s first public appearance in China since last year. Ma has been traveling outside of China in recent months and has been spotted in Spain, Japan and Thailand.
Ma’s reemergence comes after an intensive crackdown on his empire that began in late 2020 when Ant Group, the billionaire’s financial technology company, was forced to delist its massive listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ma was critical of China’s financial regulator ahead of the delisting.
Beijing then tightened regulations for the domestic sector. Alibaba, the company founded by Ma, was hit with a $2.6 billion antitrust fine in 2021.
Ant Group was reformed under the supervision of China’s central bank to comply with regulations, while Ma slowly relinquished control of the fintech.
China’s tightening of rules for the tech sector fueled investor fears that President Xi Jinping is turning against private companies and entrepreneurs.
But China has faced sluggish economic growth over the past year due to its now-abandoned zero-Covid policy. Beijing, meanwhile, has been working to revive the economy. Bringing Ma back into the herd could be an acknowledgment by Beijing that it needs private companies to do so.
“Getting economic growth back on track is probably the highest political priority [Communist] The party faces are standing right now and a more optimistic business class is key,” Xin Sun, lecturer in Chinese and East Asian economics at King’s College London, told CNBC via email.
Sun said he suspects there was “some sort of agreement” between Ma and the government that he should return and be seen in public.
“By doing so, the government intends to show its warmth to the private sector and investors – if even Jack Ma is perceived as pardoned, everyone else should feel safe and welcome,” Sun said.
There are further signs that Beijing is easing some of its regulatory tightening for the sector. For example, regulators have licensed foreign games to be released in China. And Chinese ridesharing company Didi, which faced a cybersecurity probe from regulators and was forced to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, signaled it intends to expand its business.