China's famous businessman Jack Ma (Ma Yun) has been out of action for sometime now. While in between he made a virtual appearance at an event addressing teachers, there are still talks about Chinese authorities taking action against him for publicly opposing the Chinese regulator.
In between all this noise, the sudden reference given to Ma by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping could be seen as an indication that things are improving.
During a ceremony, Xi praised Alibaba along with hundreds of other companies for their role in wiping out extreme poverty in the country.
Alibaba is a "model" of "national poverty alleviation," according to the certificate it received from the government. The company posted the certification on its Weibo account.
In addition, the company received recognition from Chinese state media as well, stated CNN. It highlighted Alibaba's efforts to help farmers sell around $155 billion worth of agricultural products through its e-commerce websites in support of Xi's campaign. State-run China Youth Daily published a report on Wednesday praising the company for its innovations, such as using AI algorithms to help farmers raise chicken, helping people sell agricultural products through live-streaming, providing education and training to poor women in the countryside, and extending loans to rural regions through its online banking services.
This sign of improvement in the relationship between Ma and Chinese authorities, may hopefully come as a relief to Ma. At present, billionaire’s Ant Group is currently under investigation of the Chinese regulator. Meanwhile, Alibaba’s financial tech affiliate is also expected to undergo major restructuring to satisfy regulators concerns.
