Alibaba CEO reassures workers amid challenges

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is an important contributor to society and continues to develop in a “regulated” manner despite major challenges, according to chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang Yong.

Alibaba is embedded in society and the economy and is developing in a regulated manner along with the rest of the country’s internet industry, Zhang said during the annual gathering of employees and family members at its Hangzhou campus, according to a press release citing his remarks.

“Family members of Alibaba, please relax. Despite uncertainties in the international situation and the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still developing as a whole,” Zhang said.

Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, has been at the centre of a regulatory storm that has rocked the nation’s tech sector since late 2020. The firm’s affiliated fintech unit, Ant Group, was forced to call off a huge IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai at the last minute, while Alibaba was given a record antitrust fine for alleged monopolistic practices.

The firm reported its slowest quarterly growth in February, while its share price fell to a record low in March. Its market capitalisation hit a low of HK$1.54 trillion that month, about 40 per cent of what it was at the time of its Hong Kong listing. Its shares are trading at less than one-third of their late 2020 peak.

Meanwhile, founder and former chairman Jack Ma remains out of public view. Ma, who made a rare appearance at last year’s staff gathering, was not in any of the event photos released on Tuesday.

With strict Covid-19 lockdown measures weighing on the economy, Beijing has signalled an end to the regulatory campaign and is looking to give internet platforms a bigger role so they can help lift the economy.

A slew of new policies are being devised to support tech firms with innovation and globalisation, Economic Daily, a staterun newspaper, said last week. Platform operators will be given a bigger role in upgrading the manufacturing and agriculture sector and in stimulating domestic consumption, according to the report.

Alibaba will continue its globalisation strategy despite geopolitical headwinds and Covid-19 pressures, Zhang said.

This week, Lazada, Alibaba’s Southeast Asia e-commerce arm, received a US$378.5 million investment from its parent company for expansion.