Alibaba’s Jack Ma rejects rumours he’s moving to Hong Kong

Alibaba chairman Jack Ma has denied reports that he is planning to move to Hong Kong after attending a roadshow in the city ahead of his company’s mega initial public offering in New York.

“Jack Ma does not, nor will ever have any emigration plan,” China’s top e-commerce company said in a statement published via its official Weibo microblog.

Hong Kong-based newspaper Economic Journal on Tuesday reported that Ma would officially become a Hong Kong permanent resident by the end of next year. China’s financial news portal 21cbh.com also said Ma acquired the identity through an investment immigration plan, although did not disclose details.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region and enjoys a high degree of autonomy. A Hong Kong passport holder is granted visa-free access or visa-on-arrival to more than 150 nations or territories. In comparison, a Chinese passport affords the holder the same convenience in only about two dozen countries.

“The rumours circulating on the internet about Ma migrating to Hong Kong are inconsistent with the facts,” the statement said, adding that Ma is still a Chinese citizen who lives in his hometown, Hangzhou, a coastal city near the business hub of Shanghai.

Ma responded to the issue on Laiwang, a mobile instant messaging application developed by his company. “[I] feel being a Hangzhou guy is awesome. [I] don’t plan to change it,” he wrote in a posting.