Alibaba shares leap as Jack Ma spotted in China for first time in more than a year

Chinese businessman seen meeting teachers and students at school founded by his company

File photo: Jack Ma, CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, gestures as he speaks during a visit to Paris in 2019 (AFP via Getty Images)

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has returned to China after more than a year living overseas, according to multiple reports.

The top Chinese entrepreneur visited a school he founded in the city of Hangzhou on Monday, sources aware of the businessman’s schedule said.

Hangzhou is also home to Mr Ma’s multinational conglomerate Alibaba and affiliated financial technology firm Ant Group.

Mr Ma’s return set Chinese social media abuzz on Monday and was confirmed by the school he had visited, along with a newspaper report by the Alibaba-owned South China Morning Post.

It wasn’t immediately clear when Mr Ma arrived in China, although Reuters quoted sources as saying he returned last week.

Shortly after Mr Ma’s appearance in China was reported, Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong rose more than four per cent.

The Chinese businessman was seen sitting in an open space balcony after he met the teachers and students of Yungu School, where he discussed issues surrounding education and ChatGPT technology.

The school was established by Alibaba’s founders in 2017.

Before reaching China, Mr Ma made a brief stopover in Hong Kong to meet friends, the SCMP report said. He also reportedly visited Hong Kong’s Art Basel gallery.

The new Chinese premier Li Qiang, a close ally of Xi Jinping, is said to have supported Mr Ma’s return to his home nation as a move that could help improve business confidence among entrepreneurs.

The bearer of China’s second most senior office reportedly had began asking Mr Ma to return late last year, five people aware of the discussions told Reuters.

This included asking Mr Ma’s allies, such as his business associates, to persuade the Alibaba chief by meeting him in person while he was away in Japan, two of the sources said.

Once the richest man in China, Mr Ma left Beijing in late 2021 and has been sighted in Japan, Australia and Thailand during his overseas sabbatical.

Analysts monitoring the private sector’s ecosystem have said that Mr Ma’s return could likely soothe the industry’s concerns after a rough period caused by the two-year regulatory crackdown.

The comeback of China’s best-known entrepreneur "boosts the sentiment of the broader platform and internet industry," said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.

He said this was "because that means the new top leadership has indeed been re-examining the position and the importance of the platform companies in China’s economic development”.

"The previous restrictive policies on the platform and internet sector are also expected to be adjusted," he said.

Asia analyst Fraser Howie was more cautious about how the private sector will view the optics of Mr Ma’s return, saying: “I can see how this sort of signals a relaxation, but none of the laws and institutions set up to control the private sector have changed.”

"It doesn’t matter at all to private business because he is already beaten. The state won, Jack has lost control, power, wealth and it’s not coming back," Mr Howie said.

It was reported in late November that Mr Ma had been “hiding” with his family in central Tokyo for nearly six months after China’s crackdown on its technology sector.

The e-commerce billionaire has rarely been seen in public since 2020, when he entered into a long-drawn standoff with Chinese regulators by criticising their “pawnshop mentality” towards tech companies.

Mr Ma retreated from the industry and public space in a massive shift from being one of China’s most outspoken businesspeople.

In January, Mr Ma said he will relinquish control of Ant Group in an overhaul triggered after a wider regulatory crackdown by authorities.