Possible to create 1m US jobs: Ma

> Alibaba chairman says promise destroyed by trade war between Washington and Beijing

SAN FRANCISCO/BEIJING: Alibaba chairman Jack Ma said the company can no longer meet its promise to create one million jobs in the United States because of US-China trade tensions, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Ma has already warned that the trade war between the world’s two largest economies could last decades and that China should focus exports on the “Silk Road” trade route, citing Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe.

Ma met US President Donald Trump two years ago and laid out the Chinese e-commerce giant’s plan to bring one million small US businesses onto its platform to sell to Chinese consumers over the next five years.

“This commitment is based on friendly China-US cooperation and the rational and objective premise of bilateral trade,” Ma told Xinhua on Wednesday. “The current situation has already destroyed the original premise. There is no way to deliver the promise.”

While Ma had not detailed how he would add those jobs, he has said that he wanted to encourage American small businesses to sell on Alibaba marketplace Tmall and Taobao, reasoning that every new business that joined the platform would have to hire a person to manage the extra sales.

Investors seemed unfazed by Ma’s comments, with Alibaba shares closing up 3.8% on Wednesday. They have declined 5.7% so far this year, including those gains.

Trump on Monday imposed 10% tariffs on about US$200 billion (RM828 billion) worth of imports from China, and threatened duties on about US$267 billion more if China retaliated.

China responded a day later with tariffs on about US$60 billion worth of US goods as planned, but reduced the level of tariffs it will collect on them.

Ma said at an investor conference in Shanghai on Tuesday that trade frictions would lead to “a mess” for all parties involved.– Reuters