Warmer winds blow as Alibaba’s hometown government pledges unswerving support for e-commerce giant to develop economy
- Communist party chief of Hangzhou said that Alibaba has made an ‘irreplaceable’ contribution to the city’s economic and social development
- Liu Jie praised Alibaba’s ‘resilience during the economic winter for the internet industry’
The municipal government of Hangzhou, where Alibaba Group Holding is based, has signed an agreement to deepen “strategic cooperation” with the e-commerce giant, praising it for helping the local economy and pledging unswerving support for its development.
Liu Jie, the communist party chief of Hangzhou, said during the signing ceremony that Alibaba has made an “irreplaceable” contribution to the city’s economic and social development, and that the municipal government would maintain close contact with Alibaba in a comprehensive and all-weather manner, according to a statement from the government of Hangzhou.
Liu praised Alibaba’s “resilience during the economic winter for the internet industry”, its “relentless efforts for hardcore scientific innovation” and the company’s “courage to face the problems during the rectification campaign of the platform economy”.
The show of support and friendship by the local authority is yet another indication that the past few years of intense regulatory pressure – which has weighed on Alibaba’s growth – is normalising. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
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In a separate event, Liu visited Ant Group on Tuesday and encouraged the fintech group to “grasp opportunities” and to “command the heights in a new round of global competition”, the official Hangzhou Daily reported. The visit came days after Alibaba and Ant founder Jack Ma agreed to relinquish overall control of the fintech group.
Alibaba and Ant have both been on the receiving end of Beijing’s tightened regulatory scrutiny of the Big Tech sector. In 2021, Alibaba was fined a record 18.2 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion) for monopolistic behaviour, while Viya, one of the top live-streaming hosts on its e-commerce platform, was erased from China’s cyberspace after she was accused of tax irregularities.
Meanwhile, Ant’s mega IPO plan was called off at the last minute in late 2020, in an unprecedented move due to regulatory uncertainties, resulting millions of dollars being returned to investors who had already subscribed for shares.
Liu, who became Hangzhou’s party secretary in December 2021, succeeded Zhou Jiangyong, who was put under a corruption probe in August 2021.
In his meeting with Alibaba, Liu said the local authority would support Alibaba to become “a leader of innovative development” and “a model student of normative development”.
Daniel Zhang, the company’s chairman and CEO, said the firm aims to enhance cloud computing, consumer business and overseas expansion, to “help create jobs, participate in global competition … and continuously contribute to the economic and social development of Hangzhou”.
Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 0.82 per cent at HK$109.5 (US$14) on Tuesday.
Yi Lianhong, the top communist party official in Zhejiang province, visited the e-commerce giant’s campus in December, after China’s leadership signalled that internet platforms such as Alibaba have a key role in reviving the slowing Chinese economy. The change in tone follows a lengthy crackdown to curb monopolistic practices in the sector and to halt the “irrational expansion of capital”.
