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SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Jack Ma, leader of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China's best-known capitalist, is a member of the Communist Party, the party's official newspaper announced Monday, refuting the public hypothesis. of a billionaire without political attachments.
PHOTO FILE: Alibaba's co-founder and executive chairman, Jack Ma, participates in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade 2030 Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 2, 2018. REUTERS / Denis Balibouse / Photo File
The People's Daily revealed that Ma's party membership in a list of 100 had contributed to the country's "reform and opening" process. Ma is the richest man in China with a fortune of $ 35.8 billion, according to Forbes.
Why did the newspaper choose to mention Ma's affiliation now, but that comes from the fact that Beijing has pushed its private companies to align more with Party values, particularly in the sector? fast-growing technology, driven by the success of private companies.
Ma, who announced in September that he would leave his position as president of Alibaba next year, is China's most prominent business leader. He has acted as an advisor to political leaders in Asia and Europe and has generated great ambitions in the United States.
He led Alibaba to become a $ 390 billion giant, which dominates China's online retail market, extending from logistics to social media, and created a separate fintech empire around the platform. popular payment form Alipay.
Ma's political affiliation was a surprise to many.
The results of the national search engine Baidu Inc., when asked "Jack Ma is he a member of the Communist Party," also indicated that he was not.
Alibaba declined to comment on Ma's party membership, but said the political links had no impact on the company's operations.
"The political affiliation of the leaders does not influence the decision-making process of the company," said a spokesman Tuesday in a comment sent to Reuters via email.
"We comply with all laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, as part of our mission to make it easier for people to do business anywhere in the digital age.
The People's Daily list also included Baidu leader Robin Li and Tencent Holding Ltd chief Pony Ma, although they did not name any of them as Party members. Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent together form the BAT trio of China's largest technology companies.
The newspaper did not specify when Ma became a party member.
Reportage of Adam Jourdan and John Ruwitch; Edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Himani Sarkar
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