Web tycoon calls for 12-hour shifts

CHINA’S richest man is calling for his countrymen to work 12-hour days, six days a week.

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba – China’s version of eBay – described the opportunity to put in more hours as a ‘blessing’.

Fellow tech entrepreneur Richard Liu, the boss of online shopping giant Jd, has echoed Ma’s calls, speaking out against a rise in the number of ‘slackers’ in China.

defending the so-called 996 system – working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week – Ma, 54, said: ‘I personally think that being able to work 996 is a huge blessing.’ He said he had regularly worked long hours as he built Alibaba in the late 1990s and explained that ‘if we find things we like, 996 is not a problem’. The father-of-three added: ‘If you don’t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?’

He said without the 996 system, China’s economy was ‘very likely to lose vitality and impetus’.

Economic growth has slowed to 6pc per year after growth of 10pc for more than 25 years.