Alibaba backs free trade with smart digital hub in Thailand
E-commerce giant’s founder Jack Ma warns US-China trade war will have no winners as he attends ceremony for free-trade zone that will facilitate agricultural exports from Thailand to China
Alibaba’s plans for a new digital free-trade zone in Thailand signal it will press on in championing global free trade despite the looming threat of a US-China trade war, the Chinese e-commerce giant’s founder Jack Ma said on Thursday.
“I don’t like trade wars and I don’t like any kind of war. It’s easy to launch a war but it’s difficult to end the war,” Ma said at a press conference. “If there is a trade war – [and] I don’t think a trade war will happen – we as businesspeople want to make sure everyone sits down and talks.”
It’s easy to launch a war but it’s difficult to end the war
His comments echoed recent commentaries he penned in the South China Morning Post – owned by the Alibaba Group – as well as in The Wall Street Journal warning there would no winner if Beijing and Washington escalated their spat over tariffs.
The Thai free-trade zone showed Alibaba’s commitment to supporting trade among developing countries and small- and medium-sized companies, Ma said.
Alibaba will invest US$320 million in the zone in Thailand’s upcoming eastern economic corridor. The zone will facilitate increased agricultural exports from the Southeast Asian country to China.