ExclusiveWith foothold in Hong Kong’s stock market, Alibaba sets itself lifespan goal of 102 years

Alibaba is committed to making Hong Kong the hub for its strategy after hot reception to IPO, chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang says

Group emphasises self-developed technology to support its ambitious growth targets over the next two decades

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Daniel Zhang, chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba Group Holding. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 8:00am, 28 Nov 2019Updated: 1:13pm, 28 Nov 2019

Alibaba Group Holding, returning to Hong Kong’s stock market this week after a five-year wait, considers the city a cornerstone of its strategy to globalise and prosper across three centuries, according to its chairman.

This week’s successful US$13 billion initial public offering (IPO), the world’s largest fundraising of 2019, will swell Alibaba’s cash equivalent to almost US$46 billion. That bolsters the financial war chest of Asia’s most valuable company, which has grown since its establishment two decades ago in an English teacher’s dorm room into a technology behemoth with businesses in e-commerce, big data, financial services and cloud computing.

Alibaba wants to serve 2 billion worldwide customers by 2036, more than double the 960 million that are part of its so-called digital economy. The group also aims to create 100 million jobs and help 10 million small businesses to become profitable on its platforms, including Taobao and Tmall for online shopping and Alipay for e-payments.

“After this IPO, Alibaba will be committed to position Hong Kong as a very important hub for our global strategies,” chairman Daniel Zhang said in his first interview since taking over the reins of the Hangzhou-based company. “Hong Kong is a very important financial centre. It is very important for our globalisation strategy. It will be a bridge between China and the world.”

Zhang, who turns 48 in January, took over the driver’s seat at Alibaba in a year-long succession plan that involved co-founder Jack Ma stepping down on his 55th birthday in September. He is also the company’s chief executive officer. Globalisation, domestic consumption and big data powered by cloud computing are the strategic pillars of the ambitious long-term targets for Alibaba, which owns South China Morning Post.

The secondary listing in Hong Kong marks Alibaba’s homecoming of sorts, after its US$25 billion New York IPO in 2014, still the record holder for the world’s largest fundraising. Its return to Hong Kong lifted the city to the top of the world’s IPO rankings, and vindicated the push by the local securities regulator and stock market operator for the biggest reforms in listing regulations in 30 years.