Having A Number Of Business Meetings, Chinese Conglomerate Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Is Reportedly In Hong Kong

JAKARTA - Long gone since his business empire came under pressure from the Chinese government late last year, Alibaba group founder Jack Ma is said to have been in Hong Kong and held a business meeting in recent days, a source said.

Citing Reuters, October 13, Jack Ma has been out of the public eye since his speech in Shanghai criticizing Chinese financial regulators last October, sparking events that led to the cancellation of his Ant Group IPO.

Since then, Jack Ma has had very limited public appearances since then, followed by speculation circulating about his whereabouts. One of the sources said the visit to Hong Kong was his first trip to one of the business centers since October last year.

Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of its regular business hours. Meanwhile, comments from Ma usually come through the company. The source declined to be identified due to confidentiality concerns.

Jack Ma, once China's most famous and outspoken businessman, met at least 'a few' business associates over a meal last week, the sources said. Ma, whose business empire is based in Hangzhou, east China, is known to own at least one luxury home in Hong Kong, which also houses several of his offshore business operations. In addition to New York, Alibaba is also registered in Hong Kong.

The former English teacher disappeared from public view for three months before reappearing in January, speaking to a group of teachers via video. That eased concerns about his unusual absence from the limelight and sent Alibaba shares soaring.

In May, Ma made a rare visit to Alibaba's Hangzhou campus during an annual staff and family event titled 'Ali Day' according to company sources.

On September 1, photos of Ma visiting several agricultural greenhouses in eastern Zhejiang Province, home to Alibaba and its fintech affiliate Ant, went viral on Chinese social media.

The following day, Alibaba said it would invest 100 billion yuan (15.5 billion US dollars) by 2025 to support "co-prosperity", becoming the latest corporate giant to pledge support for the wealth-sharing initiative pushed by President Xi Jinping.

To note, Alibaba and its tech rivals have been the target of a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown on issues ranging from monopolistic behavior to consumer rights. Last April, Alibaba broke a record-breaking monopoly violation fine of 2.75 billion US dollars, or approximately IDR 39.221.187.5 million.

Earlier this year, regulators also imposed a complete restructuring on Ant, which failed to make its $37 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong.