Jack Ma to step down as president of his business school: FT

BEIJING - Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Aibaba, is going to step down as president of the elite business school he founded after having been caught in a Beijing clampdown on tech titans, the Financial Times reported Monday.

Ma, formerly one of China's most flamboyant entrepreneurs, has largely disappeared from public view since Alibaba's fintech arm was investigated and fined by regulators for alleged monopolistic practices.

The Financial Times report cited sources saying that Hupan University -- an elite academy for Chinese business executives established in Ma's hometown of Hangzhou in 2015 -- has changed its name and will restructure its curriculum.

Ma will not hold any high-level title at the restructured organization, the report said, as Beijing seeks to limit his influence.

"Hupan is like an elite community, it's one of (the authorities') main targets," one person who worked with Ma was quoted as saying by the FT.

Viral videos circulating on Chinese social media earlier this month showed construction workers using a blow torch to remove characters on a large "Hupan University" sign. 

The FT also reported last month that Hupan University was forced to suspend new student enrolments after sustained pressure from Beijing to dismantle Ma's fintech empire.

In a series of blows for the group, Alibaba was fined a record 18.2 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) by antitrust authorities last month, and its fintech arm Ant Financial has been ordered to restructure its business after a planned listing was scuppered. 

Alibaba's reprimand is widely believed to be triggered by an October speech by Ma where he criticized state financial institutions for being outdated.

The crackdown has since widened to include many of Alibaba's competitors in China's ballooning tech sector, where government regulators fear their outsize influence on consumers could usurp that of Chinese state banks.

Since stepping down as chairman of Alibaba in 2019, Ma -- a former schoolteacher -- has poured his energies into philanthropy and various education projects.

Hupan University and Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment.

Agence France-Presse

Indonesia's Gojek, Tokopedia announce merger in country's biggest deal

SINGAPORE - Indonesian ride-hailing and payments firm Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia announced a merger on Monday in a transaction that would create a technology powerhouse in the country's largest deal.

Sources familiar with the situation had earlier said the companies were seeking a $18 billion merger. Neither firm confirmed a valuation for the merged group.

Alibaba Group Holding and SoftBank Group Corp are among Tokopedia's investors, while Gojek's include Warburg Pincus and Tencent Holdings. 

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga: Editing by Neil Fullick and Kenneth Maxwell)

-reuters-

China fines its IT giants under anti-monopoly laws

The Chinese government said Monday that it has fined the country's IT giants, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and a Tencent Holdings Ltd. unit, 500,000 yuan ($76,500) each under anti-monopoly laws.

The punishment was the first since President Xi Jinping pledged last month to strengthen measures to curb monopolistic behavior and disorderly capital expansion of IT firms.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation said Alibaba, a Chinese company that has grown into one of the world's largest e-commerce businesses, failed to declare past acquisition of a stake in a department store chain.

Tencent runs the messenger app WeChat, which is believed to have at least more than a billion users around the globe. In China, many of its users link their bank accounts or credit cards to the payment service.

-Kyodo News-

China's super rich got $1.5 trillion richer during pandemic: report

BEIJING— China's super wealthy have earned a record $1.5 trillion in 2020, more than the past 5 years combined, as e-commerce and gaming boomed during pandemic lockdowns, an annual rich list said Tuesday.

An extra 257 people also joined the billionaires club in the world's number 2 economy by August, following 2 years of shrinking membership, according to the closely watched Hurun Report.

The country now has a total of 878 billionaires. The US had 626 people in the top bracket at the start of the year, according to Hurun in its February global list.

The report found that there were around 2,000 individuals with a net worth of more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) in August, giving them a combined net worth of $4 trillion.

Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce titan Alibaba, once again topped the list after his wealth surged a whopping 45 percent to $58.8 billion as online shopping firms saw a surge in business owing to people being shut indoors for months during strict lockdowns to contain the virus.

He was followed by Pony Ma ($57.4 billion), boss of gaming giant and WeChat owner Tencent who made an extra 50 percent despite concerns about his firm's US outlook after it was threatened with bans there over national security fears.

First-time list member Zhong Shanshan, 66, best-known for his bottled water brand Nongfu, parachuted into third spot with $53.7 billion after a Hong Kong IPO in September, the report found.

'NEVER SEEN THIS MUCH WEALTH'

"The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year," Hurun Report chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said in a statement.

This year's list shows China was "moving away from traditional sectors like manufacturing and real estate, towards the new economy," he added.

Wang Xing, founder of food delivery app Meituan, quadrupled his wealth and jumped 52 places to 13th in the list with $25 billion, while Richard Liu, founder of online shopping platform JD.com, doubled his money pile to $23.5 billion.

Health care entrepreneurs also moved up the list on the back of the pandemic, with Jiang Rensheng, founder of vaccine-maker Zhifei, tripling his value to $19.9 billion.

China shut down major cities around the country in late January and February to contain the virus that first emerged in Wuhan, causing an unprecedented economic contraction in the first quarter.

With infections appearing to be under control, the country is on track to become the only major economy to expand this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

On Monday, data showed the economy expanded 4.9 percent in the third quarter but away from the glittering figures as many ordinary workers and fresh graduates are struggling to find jobs.

The urban jobless rate inched down to 5.4 percent in September, although analysts have warned of higher unemployment than officially reported this year.

Agence France-Presse

Alibaba to buy controlling stake in hypermarket chain Sun Art in $3.6 billion deal

Alibaba Group Holdings said on Monday it will invest $3.6 billion to boost its stake in hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, gaining further ground in China's booming retail market.

The e-commerce giant is hoping to further leverage its digital presence to support Sun Art's 481 hypermarkets and three mid-size supermarkets in China as the coronavirus pandemic accelerates the shift by customers online.

Alibaba, which already owned 21 percent of Sun Art through a unit, will raise its stake to around 72 percent through the acquisition of a similar stake in A-RT Retail Holdings, who owns 51 percent of Sun Art.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digitalisation of consumer lifestyles and enterprise operations, this commitment to Sun Art serves to strengthen our New Retail vision and serve more consumers with a fully integrated experience," Alibaba Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang said in a statement.

Alibaba added that Peter Huang would be appointed chairman of Sun Art on top of his current role as chief executive officer.

-reuters-

At Lazada, coronavirus measures become the latest culture conflict

SINGAPORE - At Lazada, the Southeast Asian arm of Alibaba Group Holding, staff are furious over demands they submit health reports daily and other coronavirus-prevention steps seen as too invasive, highlighting a long-running culture clash with management from China.

Since February, Singapore-based Lazada has asked all employees to answer detailed questions 7 days a week about their health and where they have been lately, according to 5 people with direct knowledge of the matter.

While the e-commerce firm describes the health reports as not mandatory, employees receive frequent calls from human resources, even on weekends, to make sure reports are submitted, the people said.

Lazada has also asked Singapore employees to wear masks at work, contrary to guidance from authorities, and has also considered urging employees to refrain from attending religious gatherings, they said.

The 5 employees, who said staff anger was widespread, detailed the measures to Reuters on condition of anonymity because they fear retribution. Three showed Reuters a copy of a health report they had submitted.

Such measures are not unusual in China, which has imposed draconian rules to contain the virus. But they are seen as a huge invasion of privacy by many Lazada staff in countries that include Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

The conflict illustrates how Alibaba's business practices have sometimes played poorly abroad and hindered its overseas ambitions. It also shows how tensions can emerge within global companies as they struggle with the virus crisis.

"How does the company use the information gathered daily? Nobody is able to explain," said one of the employees, expressing concern that Lazada might pass on the information to governments.

Magnus Ekbom, Lazada Group Chief Strategy Officer, denied there were issues with staff unhappiness over the measures in a statement to Reuters.

"Lazada has a clear top priority to safeguard the well-being of our team and the community around us," the statement said. "Our approach is in line with the recommendations made by the various governments in nations we operate in."

Sources also say this is just the latest chapter in Alibaba's struggles to manage Lazada, a company it owns 90% of after investing $3 billion since 2016 and where morale has been rapidly declining.

Once the top e-commerce firm in Southeast Asia when Alibaba first invested, Lazada has now fallen behind rivals in a fast-growing market of 650 million Southeast Asia consumers across six countries, according to market researchers.

Underlining management woes have been the quick departures of Alibaba executives dispatched to Lazada, with the latest co-president of the unit leaving in January after less than 18 months.

"Some Alibaba executives sent to Lazada have the natural tendency of pushing things the Alibaba way because it proved right in China," said Jianggan Li, the founder of Singapore-based tech investment firm Momentum Works.

"Many tend not to have enough respect for the market, and patience to understand the market deeply," he said, adding that Alibaba's international efforts were still in their early days and the tech giant probably had the determination to learn from mistakes.

Alibaba declined to comment on issues at Lazada for this article.

PUSHBACK

The sources told Reuters many employees had raised their concerns to managers via meetings, emails and messages on DingTalk, an app developed by Alibaba that enables managers to keep constant tabs on staff.

The request that employees at Singapore headquarters wear masks resulted in many queries as it runs counter to guidance from Singapore authorities who recommend masks only if feeling unwell.

"People are confused. If they think working in the office is that dangerous, they should've asked us to work from home," one employee told Reuters.

There were also suggestions from Chinese managers about asking employees to reduce social activities, including religious gatherings, though those steps were not implemented in the face of employee resistance, the sources said.

The pushback has resulted in some changes, as some countries where Lazada operates, such as the Philippines, have stricter privacy laws than China. On March 10, Lazada added a paragraph on privacy protection to the terms of its health check-in program.

"All personal data collected from the daily health check-in program shall be processed in accordance with the local data privacy laws," said an updated version reviewed by Reuters.

CLASHES AND DEPARTURES

According to sources, senior Lazada executives from China have often been quick to impose what has worked for the mainland Chinese market with little regard to local needs or sensitivities in Southeast Asia's fragmented markets.

Some failed strategies include temporary halts to free shipping in some markets which drove merchants to other sites, and attempts to promote bulk buying, the sources said. They added that these mistakes and a tendency for China executives to have key discussions without local input have taken their toll on Lazada's business performance and on morale.

At job search website Glassdoor, anonymous employee reviews are mostly very critical. Among those that were positive, several said they were writing at the explicit request of Lazada CEO Pierre Poignant who asked employees in a townhall to write glowing reviews. Lazada did not address a Reuters query about the reviews in its statement.

E-commerce in the region was worth $38 billion last year and is expected to grow rapidly, according to a study by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.

Alibaba does not break out Lazada's financial performance or disclose market share, but market researchers say Lazada now lags Singapore-based Shopee, which is backed by Alibaba arch-rival Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Shopee was the most downloaded e-commerce app and the most used in the region as of end-2019, knocking Lazada to second place, according to research firm iPrice. Shopee's website also attracts more visitors than Lazada's, iPrice said.

In Indonesia, the region's biggest economy, Lazada trails Shopee and homegrown marketplace Tokopedia, analysts add.

Lazada disputed the market share assessment. "Lazada has the largest active consumer base in Southeast Asia and continues to gain market share," said the statement by Ekbom, without providing further details.

According to three of the sources, executives from China often do not last long.

Jing Yin, a former Lazada co-president quietly left in January and returned to Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou, the people said. Others include the head of Lazada's product team, Jin Luyao, who also returned to Hangzhou in January after less than 18 months while the CEO of the Vietnam unit, Max Zhang, returned in mid-2019 after spending little more than a year in Ho Chi Minh City.

Prior to that, Lucy Peng, one of Alibaba's co-founders, stepped down as Lazada CEO in 2018 after just nine months although she remains executive chairwoman.

Alibaba veteran Jessica Liu has replaced Jing. People who have attended meetings with her said she is smart and understands e-commerce well but her English is limited. That's added to concerns Alibaba doesn't understand Southeast Asia, where English is the dominant language for international business, they said.

Lazada and Alibaba declined to make Liu available for comment. Efforts to reach Liu and the other executives by email and Linkedin were not successful.

The clashes and history of departures have left Alibaba employees wary of coming to the Southeast Asian unit.

"Many people in Hangzhou now see Lazada as a career black hole," one of the sources said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Saudi Aramco eclipses Alibaba for world's largest IPO

NEW YORK -- Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco launched its initial stock offering on Thursday, pricing at the high end of the target range and raising $25.6 billion, two sources told AFP.

The sum raised by the oil giant surpasses the $25 billion garnered by the Chinese online trading group Alibaba in 2014 when it entered Wall Street.

The market debut also puts the Saudi oil behemoth's value at $1.7 trillion, far ahead of other corporate giants in the trillion-dollar club: Apple ($1.2 trillion), Microsoft and Alibaba ($1.1 trillion).

Aramco is expected to begin trading Dec. 12 on the Tadawul exchange in Riyadh at 32 riyals, or $8.53, the sources said.

That is on the upper end of the range of 30-32 riyals the company set last month even though major banks advising it called for caution to reduce volatility in the first days of trading.

The IPO has been underwritten mainly by the Saudis themselves, as major foreign investors raised questions about corporate governance, the company's ability to protect its oil installations and its profit outlook as global climate policies become stricter.

Aramco's market debut is intended to help diversify Saudi Arabia's economy away from its overwhelming reliance on petroleum.

The company expects to sell 1.5 percent of its capital during the initial public offering.

Agence France-Presse

Alibaba eyes $12.9-B Hong Kong IPO after setting price

HONG KONG - Chinese online retail titan Alibaba said Wednesday it could raise almost $13 billion in Hong Kong's biggest IPO for nearly a decade after announcing the pricing of its shares for the mega sale.

Asia's biggest company has called the listing a multi-billion-dollar vote of confidence in the city's markets as it is wracked by months of violent protests and the China-US trade war, which have sent its economy into recession.

Alibaba said in a statement it will sell 500 million shares to investors at HK$176, which is below the HK$188 indicative ceiling announced last week. The number eight is considered auspicious in China.

That could rake in $11 billion but if it chooses to use its over-allotment option to sell a further 75 million shares, the firm could make HK$101.2 billion ($12.9 billion).

Even at the low end, the listing would still be Hong Kong's largest initial public offering since insurance giant AIA raised $20.5 billion in 2010.

The company had planned to list in the summer but called it off owing to the city's long-running pro-democracy protests and the China-US trade war.

The firm's shares are already traded in New York.

A second listing in Hong Kong is expected to curry favor with Beijing, which has sought to encourage its current and future big tech firms to list nearer to home after the loss of companies such as Baidu to Wall Street.

Mainland authorities have also stepped up moves to attract such listings, including launching a new technology board in Shanghai in July.

The listing comes after the city's exchange tweaked the rules to allow double listings, while Chief Executive Carrie Lam had also been pushing Alibaba's billionaire founder Jack Ma to sell shares in the city.

The company said in the statement that it "plans to use the proceeds from the Global Offering for the implementation of its strategies to drive user growth and engagement, empower businesses to facilitate digital transformation, and continue to innovate and invest for the long term".

China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited and Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited are the joint sponsors of the offering.

Citigroup Global Markets Asia Limited, JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited and Morgan Stanley Asia Limited are also acting as joint global coordinators, Alibaba said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Alibaba praises Hong Kong ahead of $13.4-billion listing

Alibaba Group Chairman Daniel Zhang said Hong Kong's "future is bright" as the company presses on with its secondary listing in the city gripped by increasingly violent protests and recession.

"Over the last few years, there have been many encouraging reforms in Hong Kong’s capital market. During this time of ongoing change, we continue to believe that the future of Hong Kong remains bright," Zhang wrote in the chairman’s letter included in the company's supplementary prospectus.

Four thousand people have been arrested in Hong Kong since June and the territory’s economy has sunk into recession for the first time in a decade as the anti-government demonstrations disrupt business and deter tourists.

Alibaba is hoping to raise up to $13.4 billion in its Hong Kong listing and the shares are due to start trading on Nov. 26. The retail price of the shares will be capped at HK$188 each.

The share sale is set to be Hong Kong's largest in more than nine years, and comes as Beijing seeks support from the semi-autonomous territory's tycoons and entrepreneurs to maintain a sense of business-as-usual in the face of more than five months of unrest.

Alibaba had originally considered a Hong Kong IPO in 2013, but ultimately chose New York after failing to gain approval from Hong Kong regulators for its unusual governance structure.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

China retail giant Alibaba given OK for huge Hong Kong listing

HONG KONG - Chinese online retail titan Alibaba has been given the go-ahead to list shares in Hong Kong, reports said Wednesday, in what could be the city's biggest IPO in almost a decade.

Approval for the sale will also give the city's financial authorities a huge boost as Hong Kong is battered by months of pro-democracy protests that have tarnished its image for security and hammered the Hang Seng Index.

Asia's biggest company will kick off a weeklong roadshow from Wednesday as it looks to garner interest from institutional and retail investors, said Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.

It added, citing unnamed sources, that the share price will be agreed on Nov. 20, with trading in the firm expected in the week of Nov. 25.

However, Bloomberg News reported speculation on trading floors that the share sale could be affected by protests that are wracking the city, with the Central business district among the areas targeted by demonstrations.

Alibaba, which is already listed on New York's Nasdaq, had planned to list in the summer but called it off owing to the city's long-running pro-democracy protests and the China-US trade war.

If realized, the $15 billion IPO would be the biggest since insurance giant AIA garnered $20.5 billion in 2010. However, it is lower than the $20 billion it had aimed to raise initially.

The listing also comes after the city's exchange tweaked the rules to allow double listings, while Chief Executive Carrie Lam had also been pushing Alibaba's billionaire founder Jack Ma to sell shares in the city.

A second listing in Hong Kong will also curry favor with Beijing, which has sought to encourage its current and future big tech firms to list nearer to home after the loss of companies such as Alibaba and Baidu to Wall Street.

Mainland authorities have also stepped up moves to attract such firms, including launching a new technology board in Shanghai in July.

The Sci-Tech Innovation Board was launched as a battle with the United States for technological supremacy heated up, with Chinese President Xi Jinping calling on tech leaders to become global champions, while the US has fought back in part by taking steps to clip the wings of Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Alibaba has capitalized on the Chinese consumer's love of e-commerce to dominate the sector in China and become one of the world's most valuable companies.

On Monday it said consumers spent $38.3 billion on its platforms during "Singles' Day", the world's biggest 24-hour shopping event. That was up a quarter from the previous all-time high mark set last year.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Alibaba's 11-11 sales hit record $38 billion

HANGZHOU, China -- Chinese retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's sales for its 24-hour Singles' Day shopping blitz hit a record $38.4 billion, more than US rival Amazon.com Inc's haul last quarter from online store sales.

But sales growth for the annual shopping festival eased to 26 percent, the weakest since the event started in 2009, held back by a slowing e-commerce industry in China as the country's economic expansion heads toward a historic low.

The event, a gauge of Chinese consumer sentiment, has also become a shop window this year for Alibaba as it plans to sell $15 billion worth of shares in Hong Kong this month. The US-listed firm has spent big to diversify its business yet still earns over four-fifths of revenue from e-commerce.

Alibaba turned China's informal Singles' Day into a shopping event in 2009 and built it into the world's biggest online sales fest, dwarfing Cyber Monday in the United States which took in $7.9 billion last year. The name is a play on the date, Nov. 11, rendered 11/11 - or Double Eleven, as the event is also known.

The event has since been replicated at home and abroad, with Singles' Day promotions found at rivals such as China's JD.com Inc and Pinduoduo Inc as well as South Korea's 11thStreet and Singapore's Qoo10.

Alibaba said on Monday its gross merchandise volume or GMV for the whole event came in at 268.4 billion yuan ($38.4 billion), up 26 percent from last year but below Citic Securities' forecasts for a 20-25 percent expansion.

In 2018, it posted a 27 percent sales increase.

CELEBRITY START

The Chinese retail juggernaut, with a market value of $486 billion, kicked off this year's 24-hour shopping bonanza with a live performance by US pop star Taylor Swift followed by live-streamed marketing of over 1,000 brands.

The firm said 84 brands including those of Apple Inc, L'Oreal SA and Fast Retailing Co Ltd's Uniqlo each made over 100 million yuan in sales in the first hour.

Over half of merchants on its Tmall marketplace used live streaming to sell products during the event, and sales generated through the medium surpassed 10 billion yuan at 8.55 a.m. (0055 GMT), Alibaba said.

"Nearly all our brands have opted for livestreaming promotions some time this year," says Josh Gardner, who helps overseas companies sell products on Tmall as CEO of Kung Fu Data.

"It's more entertaining than browsing through a product detail page. Traffic from livestreaming is easy to convert into transactions, and Tmall has supported stores that run livestreaming activities with resources."

One vendor, New Zealand-based nutritional supplement maker Clinicians, broadcast livestreams from a booth set up on Alibaba's campus. According to Carlos Zhao, China market manager, the company has seen a 40 percent jump in sales after it started livestreaming in China six months ago.

"This is a product form from new Zealand, everything is in English, and so many people are selling similar products, so customers wonder, 'Which one do I choose from?'" he told Reuters. "Having a livestreamer can help to break those barriers."

Tmall has said it expects over 500 million users to make purchases this year, about 100 million more than last year. It has also put more emphasis this year on promotions targeting areas outside of China's massive first- and second-tier cities.

"The younger generation is buying more, and the customer from rural areas, the customers from lower-tier cities, they are buying imported products," Tmall General Manager Alvin Liu told reporters.

Singles' Day is known to be a stressful time for Alibaba employees with workers sleeping at the office to keep up with orders.

This year, at Alibaba's campus in Hangzhou, workers bustle around in red t-shirts with the slogan 'Make 11 happen'.

Percussion echoes through halls as departments bang large drums each time a sales record is broken. Pink rice cakes – dingshenggao, or 'victory cakes' eaten by Yue Army soldiers during the Song Dynasty - fill the office snack bars.

This is the first time Alibaba's Singles' Day is being held since its flamboyant co-founder Jack Ma resigned as chairman in September to "start a new life". 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Alibaba says 11-11 sales hit $13 billion in first hour

SHANGHAI - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Inc said on Monday that sales for its annual Singles' Day shopping blitz hit 91.2 billion yuan ($13 billion) within the first hour, up 32 percent from last year's early haul of 69 billion yuan.

Akin to Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States, Singles' Day has been promoted as a shopping fest by Alibaba Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel Zhang since 2009, growing rapidly to become the world's biggest online sales event.

Also known as "Double Eleven", the festival's name originates from the calendar date 11/11, with the four ones referencing being single.

Alibaba saw sales worth $30 billion on its platforms on Singles' Day last year, dwarfing $7.9 billion US online sales for Cyber Monday. Yet the 27 percent sales growth was the lowest in the event's 10-year history, spurring a search for fresh ideas.

The $486 billion Chinese retail juggernaut kicked off this year's 24-hour shopping fest with performances by American pop star Taylor Swift and local celebrities like Jackson Yee.

This is the first time Alibaba's Singles' Day does not have flamboyant co-founder Jack Ma at its helm, after he resigned in September as chairman.

It also comes at a crucial time for the company, which is looking to raise up to $15 billion via a share sale in Hong Kong this month.

Alibaba continues to dominate the online shopping industry, but not without competition.

In addition to longtime rival JD.com, it now faces competition from upstart Pinduoduo, which surged in popularity in 2017 by targeting consumers in China's lower-tier cities.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Alibaba sets eyes on $15-billion Hong Kong listing: report

HONG KONG - Chinese online retail titan Alibaba is hoping to raise up to $15 billion in a Hong Kong IPO, a report said Friday, which would be the city's biggest listing for 9 years.

The share sale by Asia's biggest company would also come as Hong Kong authorities battle months of sometimes violent protests that have dented the financial hub's economy and reputation.

Alibaba is looking to scoop up between $10 billion and $15 billion in the initial public offering, Bloomberg News cited unnamed sources as saying, and is looking to hold a hearing into the move -- as mandated by the Hong Kong exchange rules -- next week.

The firm declined to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.

Alibaba, which is already listed on New York's Nasdaq, had planned to list in the summer but called it off owing to the city's long-running pro-democracy demonstrations and the China-US trade war.

If realized, the $15 billion IPO would be the biggest since insurance giant AIA garnered $20.5 billion in 2010. However, it is lower than the $20 billion it had aimed to raise initially.

A second listing in Hong Kong would also curry favor with Beijing, which has sought to encourage its current and future big tech firms to list nearer to home after the loss of companies such as Alibaba and Baidu to Wall Street.

Mainland authorities have stepped up moves to attract such firms including launching a new technology board in Shanghai in July.

The Sci-Tech Innovation Board was launched as a battle with the United States for technological supremacy heated up, with Chinese President Xi Jinping calling on tech leaders to become global champions, while the US has fought back in part by taking steps to clip the wings of Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Alibaba has capitalized on the Chinese consumer's love of e-commerce to dominate the sector in China and become one of the world's most valuable companies.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Alibaba to resume Hong Kong listing plans as soon as November: sources

HONG KONG/NEW YORK - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is eyeing a listing in Hong Kong as early as November to raise up to $15 billion, after political unrest put the move on ice earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Alibaba's listing would boost Hong Kong's status as a major capital markets hub. After topping global rankings in 2018 for funds raised through IPOs, the city's bourse fell behind the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq this year amid months of anti-government protests that have roiled the Asian financial hub.

The float would be the world's biggest equity deal for the year if the initial public offering (IPO) for state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco gets delayed to next year. Aramco's IPO could be worth over $20 billion.

Alibaba plans to seek listing approval from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd shortly after the Chinese e-commerce giant's online retail frenzy Singles Day on Nov. 11, and may list its shares towards the end of November or in early December, the sources said.

The company expects to be in a position to forgo so-called pre-marketing meetings where it meets with institutional investors before a deal launch given its size and that many investors are already familiar with the company, the sources added. It is hoping to raise between $10 billion and $15 billion through the listing, Reuters has reported.

The sources cautioned that the plans are still subject to market conditions and requested anonymity as the matter is private.

A spokeswoman for Alibaba, which is already listed in New York, declined to comment. The company had been preparing to launch the listing in late August, but delayed it due to the lack of financial and political stability in Hong Kong after months of frequently violent anti-government demonstrations.

All the same, IPO activity has picked up since September as typically the last four months of the year are the busiest in Hong Kong for public floats.

Such a large offering from Alibaba, potentially the biggest follow-on share sale in seven years, according to Refinitiv data, could also have implications on liquidity in Hong Kong's financial system and the closely watched Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (HIBOR). This is particularly the case given that investors in the Hong Kong market often borrow funds in anticipation of large share sales.

A rise in HIBOR can in turn lift the Hong Kong dollar , which is pegged to the US dollar at a tight range of 7.75 to 7.85. To defend the peg, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city's de-facto central bank, buys local dollars if it gets too weak and sells to curb excessive strength.

Alibaba follows in the footsteps of brewer AB InBev, which in September raised about $5 billion by listing its Asia-Pacific unit in Hong Kong. It was the bourse's biggest and the world's second-largest IPO so far this year.

HOMECOMING

Alibaba holds the record for the world's largest IPO with its $25 billion float in New York in 2014.

At that time, the company had initially hoped to float in Hong Kong, but its governance structure clashed with the city's listing rules. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing loosened its rules last year, specifically to lure overseas-listed Chinese tech giants to float closer to home.

Alibaba would be the first to test the new system.

Since going public in New York, Alibaba's shares have more than doubled in value, giving it a market capitalization of around $460 billion.

In August, Alibaba reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit, aided by growth in its e-commerce and cloud computing businesses.

A total of $18.5 billion was raised by companies via IPOs on the Hong Kong bourse from January through to mid-October, compared with $21.9 billion raised on the NYSE and $23.3 billion on Nasdaq, Refinitiv data showed.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

New era at Alibaba as Jack Ma rides into the sunset

SHANGHAI -- Jack Ma stepped aside as leader of the Alibaba Group on Tuesday, ending a spectacularly successful 20-year run during which the charismatic former English teacher's e-commerce company left a profound impact on China's economy.

Ma, who also turned 55 on Tuesday, said farewell in a speech in the eastern city of Hangzhou where Alibaba is based, thanking employees and predicting a smooth transition to a team of executives led by CEO Daniel Zhang.

"Today's is not Jack Ma's retirement. Its the start of passing on our system to another generation," Ma said in comments quoted by state media.

"This is not one person's choice. It shows the success of our system."

In a succession years in the making, Ma is stepping down as chairman of the company he founded in 1999 to focus on putting his $41 billion fortune toward philanthropic projects such as education. 

Ma's departure opens a new chapter for a company that helped unleash massive Chinese consumer spending, creating opportunities for countless businesses large and small, and helped cement the internet's central role in Chinese daily life.

Along the way, the charismatic Ma became a global figure.

With his fluent English, globetrotting, and playful antics -- he channeled Michael Jackson in a dance routine 2 years ago -- Ma shattered the aloof image of the Chinese executive, putting a friendly face on China's economic rise as he rubbed shoulders with the world's business and political elite.

"His background as an English teacher, allied to his raw charisma including a keen sense of humor have cemented his place... as the face of Chinese entrepreneurs overseas," said Duncan Clark, author of "Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built."

"His influence as a symbol of Chinese entrepreneurship is unparalleled."

RAGS TO RICHES 

Besides coming on his birthday, Ma's departure, fittingly for an instructor, fell on Teacher's Day in China, and on the same day Alibaba celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Ma was a cash-strapped entrepreneur when someone showed him the internet on a 1990s trip to the United States.

He launched various internet-related business projects in China that met with mixed success before convincing a group of Chinese and foreign friends to give him $60,000 to start a business-to-business e-commerce venture called Alibaba in 1999.

Today, Alibaba towers over Chinese e-commerce with more than half of domestic market share, international ambitions, and a dominant position in digital payments through affiliate Ant Financial.

US-listed Alibaba is now among the world's most valuable companies, worth $462 billion, according to Bloomberg data.

But Ma's successors face rising domestic competition just as growth in consumer spending is slowing along with China's economy.

Ma is expected to retain some advisory functions.

'A TEAM' TAKES OVER 

In contrast to Ma, the 47-year-old Zhang, who took over as CEO in 2013, is a mild-mannered finance expert. 

But Chinese media routinely refer to him as the operational brains who transformed idea-man Ma's sturdy little "tractor" into a "Boeing 747".

"The guys taking over are really top-tier," said Jeffrey Towson, an equity investor and professor at Peking University.

"This is the 'A Team'. You don't want to compete against them in anything."

Since Zhang took over operations, Alibaba has poured investment into new initiatives including bricks-and-mortar retail, cloud computing, digital media, the grocery sector, meal delivery, entertainment and advertising. Earnings have remained strong.

On Friday, Alibaba said it bought the e-commerce platform of fellow Chinese internet giant NetEase for around $2 billion, further strengthening its industry lead.

Alibaba and its imitators, however, have been accused of fostering rampant consumerism, traffic in counterfeit goods, and producing mountains of packaging-material refuse.

Ma himself has drawn barbs, including after he recently dismissed concerns that Chinese workers were toiling excessive hours, and over the revelation last year that he was a Communist Party member.

But he also has won plaudits for his philanthropy and self-deprecating ways, frequently recounting how he was rejected by Harvard "10 times".

While Ma has inspired strong devotion among employees and fans, Zhang eschews the limelight but is considered a hyper-competitive businessman.

"You must keep awake every minute; you need to keep your eyes open in your sleep," Zhang said last year.

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Alibaba postpones up to $15 billion Hong Kong listing amid protests: sources

HONG KONG/NEW YORK - China's biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has delayed its up to $15 billion listing in Hong Kong amid growing political unrest in the Asian financial hub, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Alibaba held a board meeting before its latest quarterly earnings release last week, during which the board decided to postpone the Hong Kong listing which was set to take place in late August, one of the people said.

The decision was made on the lack of financial and political stability in Hong Kong amid more than 11 weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations which have become increasingly violent and plunged the city into turmoil, the people added.

Tear gas has been used frequently by police while more than 700 people have been arrested, followed by an unprecedented airport shutdown last week. Hong Kong's stock market also fell to seven-month lows last week.

While no new timetable has been formally set, Alibaba could launch the Hong Kong deal as early as in October, seeking to raise $10 to $15 billion, when political tensions ease and market conditions become favorable again, said the other source.

"It would be very unwise to launch the deal now or anytime soon. It would certainly annoy Beijing by offering Hong Kong such a big gift given what's going on in the city," said the source.

Alibaba declined to comment on the deal.

Both sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to media.

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Alibaba's smart speaker to feature in Audi, Renault, Honda cars

SHANGHAI -- China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Tuesday said its voice-controlled assistant will feature in local vehicles from Audi AG, Renault SA and Honda Motor Co Ltd, as the tech giant expands in artificial intelligence.

The Tmall Genie Auto smart speaker will allow drivers to use voice commands to, for instance, place orders on Alibaba's online retail platform and buy movie tickets, Alibaba said at the CES Asia 2019 technology trade show in Shanghai.

In the near future, the speaker will also allow drivers to monitor and control smart devices at houses equipped with a Tmall Genie-compatible device, Alibaba said in a joint statement with the three automakers, without specifying vehicle models.

"We are thrilled to partner with global, distinguished auto brands such as Audi, Renault and Honda," said Miffy Chen, general manager at Alibaba AI Labs. "Together, we can greatly enhance our in-car services and make driving experiences more intelligent and interconnected."

The Tmall Genie is akin to Amazon.com Inc's Echo. Alibaba launched the device in 2017 and released an auto version in April last year. Other automakers that have said they will install the device in their vehicles include BMW and Volvo Cars.

Amazon also has a vehicle version of its Echo, dubbed the Echo Auto, which it announced in September.

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Alibaba eyes $20 billion second listing in Hong Kong: report

SHANGHAI -- Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group is exploring a potential second listing in Hong Kong that could raise $20 billion as Beijing seeks to encourage its tech titans to list closer to home, a report on Tuesday said.

US-listed Alibaba is aiming to file an application in Hong Kong as early as the second half of 2019, Bloomberg News reported, quoting unidentified people with knowledge of the plans.

The listing would be intended to open up new funding channels for Alibaba, whose 2014 listing in New York raised $25 billion in the world's largest initial public offering.

An Alibaba spokesperson declined comment to AFP, saying the company does not respond to "market rumors".

China has sought to encourage its current and future big tech firms to list nearer to home, including via a planned technology board in Shanghai that would be China's answer to the Nasdaq exchange.

The moves come with China and the United States locked in an escalating trade battle in which Washington has banned US companies from supplying technology to Chinese telecom and smartphone giant Huawei.

The Trump administration suspects Huawei has links to China's military, which could allow Beijing to access sensitive data on global networks that use Huawei equipment.

Alibaba has capitalized on the Chinese consumer's love of e-commerce to dominate the sector in China and become one of the world's most valuable companies.

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China's virtual reality arcades aim for real-world success

SHANGHAI--Chen Jiuxiao puts on virtual-reality goggles and is immediately transported to a snow-covered ski slope, down which she slaloms without ever leaving Shanghai.

"I felt weightless skiing down the mountain," Chen, 25, gushes after re-emerging in the material world.

"The scenery around me was so authentic," she adds.

Chen, a hospitality worker, said she ventured into one of Shanghai's VR arcades due to word of mouth from her tech-savvy friends.

China had an estimated 3,000 VR arcades in 2016, and the market was forecast to grow 13-fold between then and 2021 to amount to 5.25 billion yuan ($782 million), according to a joint report by iResearch Consulting Group and Greenlight Insights.

Add in the profits to be made from headsets, equipment, games and other products, and it's little wonder that augmented-reality and virtual-reality industries are excited about China.

"Chinese growth in the next 5 years could see it dominate AR/VR long-term -- and not by a small margin," Silicon Valley consultancy Digi-Capital said in a report last year.

"China has the potential to take more than $1 of every $5 spent" in the industry globally by 2022, it added.

QUALITY SHORTAGE

One key factor is China's government.

Tens of millions of Chinese have become obsessive players of mobile video games, causing concern that China was raising a generation of myopic youngsters addicted to battle games.

Authorities imposed curbs last year on the number of new game releases and playing time for youths, rattling the industry and shaving billions off the market value of big players including gaming giant Tencent.

But the government is pushing hard for China to become a world leader in next-generation technologies including artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. VR has been lumped into that favoured class, benefiting from a slew of preferential policies.

Chen Wei, manager of Shanghai VR arcade Machouse said VR was likely to avoid the fate of mobile video games in China.

He cites the relatively high cost of arcade play -- up to 70 yuan ($10) or more for a 15-minute game -- and of setting up home systems.

"It's hard for minors to get addicted," he said.

The nascent VR games industry suffers from a shortage of high-quality games, however.

At Shanghai's VR+ Amusement Park, a new game lands only once every three months, officials there said.

VR EXPLOSION


Firms such as Tencent remain hesitant to dive in to the arcade scene until the sector reaches critical mass, analysts explained.

But the company, along with fellow Chinese giants Alibaba and Baidu, is investing in virtual online shopping and VR entertainment, all of which could trickle down into gaming.

Already a number of towns and cities in China have declared themselves incubator zones that are integrating VR into research, manufacturing, education and other spheres, luring in capital, according to Chinese reports.

Seekers VR, which is based in the eastern city of Wenzhou and owns a franchised chain of 200 arcades in more than 70 cities across China, is working with the Wenzhou government to establish a college focused on educating students about VR and using the technology in lessons.

"There is no dominant competitor in the VR industry since it is so immature, and we will bring more and more opportunity," said Seekers VR's CEO Belle Chen.

The expected wide-scale adoption in China of ultra-fast 5G networks is expected to further boost VR development, and foster growth in areas such as education and training, said Chen Wei.

He said: "There is no better way to learn skills, and at a lower cost, than VR. Even though VR is still educating users about what it is, it could explode someday."

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Alibaba is the force behind hit Chinese Communist Party app: sources

BEIJING -- A Chinese government propaganda app that recently became a huge hit was developed by Alibaba, two people at the company told Reuters, at a time when the nation's tech firms are under global scrutiny over their ties to Beijing.

"Xuexi Qiangguo," which literally translates as 'Study to make China strong' and is a play on the government propaganda theme of applying President Xi Jinping's thoughts, overtook Tik Tok's Chinese version Douyin and WeChat to become the county's most popular app on Apple's China app store last week.

It was developed by a largely unknown special projects team at Alibaba known as the "Y Projects Business Unit", which takes on development projects outside the company, said the people.

New York-listed Alibaba declined to comment on whether the business unit had developed the app.

The app's development by Alibaba, whose Chairman Jack Ma is a member of the Communist Party, is the latest example of a Chinese tech company collaborating with the government.

The country's propaganda department has released the app ahead of next month's National People's Congress in Beijing, China's top annual parliamentary gathering.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

The app, which includes short videos, government news stories and quizzes, was created by an Alibaba team. A user of Alibaba's own messaging app DingTalk can use their login credentials to log into Xuexi Qiangguo. Alibaba said the app was built using DingTalk's software.

Staff at the Alibaba unit are responsible for developing and maintaining the app that includes news, videos, livestream and community comments, according to the sources and a job advertised for Xuexi Qiangguo on Alibaba's career website.

The unit does not have a website, but is described in job ads on popular Chinese careers site Zhipin.com as a strategic level project that is in a creation stage and offers many job opportunities.

At least part of the app's runaway popularity can be attributed to directives issued by local governments and universities that require people in China's expansive party member network to download the app.

The app has been downloaded over 43.7 million times on Apple and Android devices since its launch in January, according to estimates by Beijing-based statistical consulting firm Qimai.

It was not immediately clear whether Alibaba makes money from the app, or who initiated its development.

Last month, Alibaba executive vice-chairman Joe Tsai slammed US treatment of fellow Chinese tech firm Huawei Technologies as "extremely unfair", and sharply criticized what he called an attempt by the US government to curb China's rise via the trade war.

Huawei, the world's biggest network equipment maker, has been largely barred from the United States and some other countries on suspicion that its products could be used as a conduit for spying. Huawei and China have denied the allegations.

EXTENSIVE COLLABORATION

But major Chinese tech companies have cooperated extensively with governments in China on infrastructure, cloud computing and public security as part of the country's "Internet Plus" policy drive to improve traditional industries.

Collaboration with state media has also increased in recent years, amid tighter censorship laws that require companies to toe the party line.

Tik Tok creator Beijing ByteDance Technology Co and WeChat creator Tencent Holdings Ltd are among some who have collaborated with state media outlets using their social media platforms.

"The upside for these firms is that their track record of cooperation can put them in a better position to obtain key licenses or opportunities," said Mark Natkin, managing director at Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting, adding these collaborations were Beijing's way of maintaining control over private firms.

"The downside is they may get tapped to participate in projects which, on economic or PR considerations alone they might normally eschew, but which may be uncomfortable or unwise to refuse."

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