Jack Ma’s first overseas trip abroad after 2 years of crackdown
After two years of the crackdown, China allowed billionaire Jack Ma, founder of an e-commerce giant to travel to Europe. Chinese media says Jack Ma is currently in Spain and allowed to visit Europe for an “agricultural study tour.” Before flying to Europe, Jack Ma was in Hong Kong to spend low-key “private time” with his family, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, which is owned by him, reported on Wednesday.
Jack Ma is currently in Spain for an agriculture and technology study tour related to environmental issues, it said. Xi Jinping’s regime cracked down on Jack Ma in late 2019, charging violation of anti-monopoly regulations. But many reported that Jack Ma “grown overboard” and his few speeches abroad were critical of the Chinese Government. There were reports appeared speculating that the Chinese Communist regime has jailed him and even about elimination.
He will be in Europe for a series of business meetings and an agriculture study tour. It will be his first overseas trip in more than a year. Previously, Jack Ma spent one of every three days travelling in 2018, the Post report said. The billionaire retired as Alibaba‘s chairman in 2019 on his 55th birthday, sparking speculation about his sudden decision to step down from the helm. “He is lying low right now,” his close associate Joseph Tsai, executive vice-chairman of Alibaba said during the height of the crackdown against the firm, refuting speculative reports about his prolonged absence from the public.
Alibaba went through a stormy 2020, with Jack Ma being summoned by national regulators after he likened traditional Chinese banks to “pawnshops” and questioned whether the Basel Accords – A set of global banking regulatory recommendations – were suitable for China. Soon the Chinese Government launched an antitrust probe into Alibaba and slapped a record fine of USD 2.8 billion on the tech giant for monopolistic practices.
Alibaba suffered a major setback last year after the Shanghai Stock Exchange suspended dual listing of the shares of the world’s biggest initial public offer of USD 39.7 billion of the group’s subsidiary – the Ant Group, 48 hours before the highly-anticipated trading was due to start. India’s mobile phone transferring company Pay TM also had major shares of Jack Maa-controlled firms.
Jack Maa, born in a poor family all of a sudden grew and once became China’s business face to the world with the support of the Chinese Communist regime. But some of his speeches in the international forums made him persona-non-grata to the Xi Jinping regime, which put him in silent mode for the past two years.
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