“You have to move your life there and either get a team to go with you, or find co-partners when you get there,” said Jamie Lin, founding partner of Taipei-based appWorks Ventures, which funds startups on the island. “But the fact that he said that sent a positive message to the community.”

Ma, known for his pro-Beijing zeal that would extend to his government’s goal of unifying self-ruled Taiwan with the mainland, said he hoped to set up foundations that would help young Taiwanese entrepreneurs, local media reports say. He also invited them to contact him about working with Alibaba, the Hangzhou-based, New York-listed group of e-commerce portals that includes Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com.

Rejection of Ma’s overtures would indicate that Taiwanese startups distrust his political intentions or don’t think they can make money in mainland China, either way a setback to relations between two sides that have tried to thaw six decades of hostility though economic ties.

Beijing faced a troubling 2014 with the Sunflower Movement protests in Taipei against economic integration and local elections in November that threw Taiwan’s mainland-friendly ruling Nationalists out of top offices in nine cities and counties.

Jack’s Ma’s visit “could be a new creative way of promoting cross-Strait economic integration, backed by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington.

Sean Chen, a restaurant review app developer in Taipei, wants to know more about mainland China as a possible market to expand his year-old, three-person startup into education services. He’s open to the Alibaba chairman’s offer.

“Actually a lot of people in Taiwan want to go to mainland China, but to get in is not so easy unless you know someone there who can lead the project,” he said.

But Ma’s scheme may struggle as younger Taiwanese generally show little interest in starting companies, officials and analysts on the island say. Taiwan’s education ministry plans to revamp university admissions after 2018 to foster students with a mind for taking business risks.

For some potential investors, the mainland itself is the problem. They cite trademark violations, rising labour costs and a growing pool of local white-collar talent that would compete with any startups. Others suspect that mainland economic sweeteners for Taiwan are designed to lure Taiwan toward political reunification after 65 years of autonomy.

“Given the mainland connection, I’d be somewhat worried about how my ideas are going be used and who they’ll benefit,” said John Brebeck, a financial industry veteran in Taipei.

Taiwanese investors backed by government incentives in Taipei have taken about HK$130.8 billion in projects back from the mainland since 2006.

The Alibaba chairman’s proposal may also lack novelty value as China has drawn Taiwanese investors since 2007 with incentives such as special entry rules and industrial zones targeting the island’s investors. About 101,000 Taiwanese entrepreneurs with projects worth HK$1.09 trillion remain in the mainland, according to Taiwan government figures.

Then there are questions about exactly what Ma will offer. The man estimated by Forbes to be worth US$19.5 billion did not specify while in Taiwan the amounts of money available or say how it would be awarded. Alibaba’s media office declined comment.

“If and when those get rolled out is anybody’s guess,” said Danny Levinson, Beijing-based technology angel investor and former chief executive of Vocus’ China operations. “So is he serious about it? He has the money to be serious about it and a grant would be a rounding error in his wallet.”