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Lulu Yilun Chen, David Ramli and Daniel Ten Kate
Pekin | Jack Ma, co-founder of the largest Chinese company and one of the largest capitalists in the country, has been officially confirmed as a member of the Communist Party.
Ma, co-founder and chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is one of 100 personalities that the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party will honor as part of a celebration of the 40th anniversary of economic reform and opening. from the country. Pony Ma, chairman and CEO of Tencent, Robin Li, general manager of Baidu, basketball star Yao Ming and volleyball coach Lang Ping are also honored.
The boundaries between business and politics have become increasingly blurred in China, with President Xi Jinping leading a campaign to ensure that the Communist Party plays a leading role in all aspects of society. This has sometimes created tension when the interests of private entrepreneurs and the state have clashed.
"We are seeing an increasingly close relationship between the major Chinese Internet companies and the Chinese government, as the government sees them as one of the most effective ways of realizing its policy initiatives," said Mark Natkin, director General of Marbridge Consulting, based in Beijing.
"Being a party member is fundamentally turning your hat on to party legitimacy and that does not necessarily mean a particularly high level of political activity."
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Under Deng Xiaoping's leadership, China began launching economic reforms in 1978 that moved away from traditional communist doctrine and allowed the creation of private enterprises. This eventually led to robust growth that turned the country into the world's largest economy behind the United States.
The list of 100 celebrities to celebrate on the occasion of the 40th anniversary is made public for examination until November 30, according to the Daily People newspaper. Beyond the business leaders and sports stars, the list includes scientists, astronauts and artists.
Ma is the richest man in China with a net worth of $ 38.4 billion ($ 53.15 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index. Ma announced in September that he was considering entrusting the role of executive chairman to the general manager, Daniel Zhang, next year.
Alibaba, which dominates e-commerce in China and expanded into a wide range of additional activities, was released in 2014 during the largest initial public offering ever in New York. At the time, Ma said investors would be the company's third priority after customers and employees.
Despite a decline in its share price this year, Alibaba is valued at more than US $ 400 billion and ranks among the top 10 most profitable companies in the world.
Ma has been a staunch supporter of President Xi's politics in recent years. In 2016, he proposed that the country's top security office use Big Data to prevent crime, supporting China's efforts to implement unprecedented online surveillance of its billions of people.
After Xi said last year that fighting inequality was becoming as important as boosting economic growth, Ma was one of the first to respond. He told an official publication that entrepreneurs who got money have the responsibility to help others catch up.
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