Tech talk tops agenda as Malaysia’s Mahathir meets Jack Ma at Alibaba’s Hangzhou HQ
Mahathir also visited the carmaker Geely, where he witnessed the signing of a deal between the Hangzhou-based company and Malaysian firm Proton
Home-grown Chinese technology from blockchain payment systems to green-powered cars were put on display on Saturday as the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad kicked off his keenly watched five-day visit to China with tours of the Hangzhou headquarters of Alibaba Group and carmaker Geely.
The 93-year-old leader has said adopting technology from the likes of China and Japan is crucial to achieving the economic reform he promised to deliver before his watershed election victory in May.
Observers are closely watching Mahathir’s visit for clues about the future of bilateral ties between the two countries amid some uncertainty fuelled by his criticism of Chinese infrastructure projects in Malaysia he had deemed unnecessary and too expensive. Among the most keenly anticipated aspects of the trip’s agenda will be his meetings with Premier Keqiang and President Xi Jinping.
At Alibaba’s sprawling Xixi Park campus in the morning, Mahathir told the Chinese conglomerate’s co-founder Jack Ma that his country was keen on adopting its various hi-tech platforms to bolster economic growth.
“What you have achieved is quite fantastic … we’d like to tap your idea of modern technology for the benefit of the people” the Malaysian leader told Ma after an hour-long briefing on the Chinese firm’s latest ventures.