'Missing' Ma Yun Appears in Public for the First Time in Six Months Since October Last Year

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba who has been heavily targeted by Chinese authorities, appeared in public. This is the first time in half a year since last October.

According to Chinese local media such as Phoenix Net on the 11th, Jack Ma visited Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province on the 10th (local time) to attend the annual event called 'Ali Day.'

The 'Ali Day' event, held every year on May 10th, is an internal festival of Alibaba where employees can bring their families and pets to the company, and group weddings for employees are also held.

Photos released by local media show Jack Ma wearing a blue T-shirt and white pants at the event site, walking with numerous Alibaba executives, and smiling while responding to requests for commemorative photos from people.

He also held a microphone indoors and had conversations with about ten young employees.

This is the first time Jack Ma has appeared in front of the general public in half a year since last October.

Although he occasionally participated in online video events, he had never appeared in a public place visible to many ordinary people like this before.

Since he openly criticized the authorities at the Shanghai Financial Forum last October, Jack Ma has not been able to actively engage in activities in China as before.

The IPO of Ant Group, Alibaba's fintech affiliate which was expected to become the world's largest, was abruptly canceled, and since then Alibaba, founded by him, has become the target of strong regulations by the authorities under the pretexts of antitrust and personal information protection.

Last month, Alibaba was fined a record-breaking antitrust penalty of about 3 trillion won by the authorities.

However, various pressures from the authorities surrounding Alibaba Group, such as the conversion of Ant Group into a financial holding company, are still ongoing.

It is analyzed that the series of 'Alibaba reforms' led by the authorities are focused on reducing Jack Ma's personal control.

Accordingly, there is growing speculation in China that even if Jack Ma is able to freely engage in external activities in the future, it will be difficult for him to regain the same powerful economic influence as before in China.