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The promise of Chinese technology billionaire Jack Ma to create 1 million new jobs in the United States is the latest victim of the trade war.
the Ali Baba (BABA) The head of state drew attention at the beginning of last year when he made the ambitious commitment following a meeting with Donald Trump, who was president-elect at the time.
But in an interview published Wednesday night by the Chinese official news agency, Xinhua, Ma said the waves of new tariffs imposed by Washington and Beijing in recent months had undermined the plan.
"This promise was based on Sino-US friendly cooperation and reasonable bilateral trade relations, but the current situation has already destroyed this base," Ma said. "This promise can not be fulfilled."
A spokeswoman for Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, confirmed Ma's comments to CNN.
Analysts had already expressed doubts about the commitment, which Alibaba announced after Trump and Ma met at Trump Tower in New York in January 2017.
This vague promise was not based on Alibaba's investment in the United States to build factories or execution centers. Instead, Ma talked about boosting trade by helping small US companies sell their products to consumers in China and elsewhere in Asia.
In the Xinhua interview, Ma said that "Alibaba" would not stop promoting the sound development of Sino-US trade.
He has already expressed his fears about the trade war this week, telling investors he could last up to 20 years.
"It's going to be a long time, it's going to be a mess," he said on Tuesday in Hangzhou, the city where Alibaba is based.
– Yong Xiong and Sherisse Pham contributed to this report.
CNNMoney (Hong Kong) First published on September 19, 2018: 22:54 ET
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