China: Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, reappears in filmed interview
Jack Ma (illustrative image).
AP Photo / Thibault Camus
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
He had not appeared publicly since October, Jack Ma is back this Wednesday, January 20 in China.
The founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba recorded a video message during an awards ceremony for rural teachers.
Shot yesterday Tuesday January 19, the video was broadcast on certain media sites.
Publicity
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With our correspondent in Beijing,
Stéphane Lagarde
Casual sweater and tee-shirt, chin raised, eye amused, we can recognize her there as Jack Ma, the most famous Chinese billionaire who had disappeared from the screens for nearly three months.
"
For five years on this date, we have been giving a prize to Sanya
(capital of the tropical island of Hainan province in the south of the country)
to reward 100 teachers from rural schools in China
" said in substance the founder of Alibaba in this report. 50 second filmed interview.
“
This year it is not possible
, continues the latter,
but we must continue to pay this tribute to the teachers.
"
#Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun @JackMa, the English teacher turned entrepreneur, met with 100 rural teachers from across the country via video link on Wednesday.
“We'll meet again after the [COVID-19] epidemic is over,” he said to them: report pic.twitter.com/oj2JQqZGnI
- Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 20, 2021
Media disappearance
Is this a message sent to those who worried about his disappearance from the media, shortly after the latter dared to
openly call
for reform of the financial system in front of an audience of Chinese business leaders and politicians? October 24, 2020?
It was not the first time that the billionaire attacked
the planned economy
, however, probably
once too many
in the eyes of the authorities.
And the absence of the concerned in the public eye that followed seemed unusual.
Absence of TV shows and especially absence of Twitter, censored media in China, which the former English teacher used regularly.
A "disappearance" which is reminiscent of that of the actress Fan Bingbing, she also
passed out in the
media for three months in 2018.
Low profile
Does retiree Jack Ma have any concerns with the Chinese regulator?
His group in any case, has: IPO suspended at the last minute for Ant, opening of an investigation for
suspicion
of monopoly practices, and everything suggests that the king of Chinese "e-commerce" was forced to last few months to keep a low profile.
This stealthy sign of life recorded yesterday, Tuesday, January 20, and broadcast on the official media account, in particular by
Tianmu News
and the
Global Times
, should help reassure entrepreneurs and investors in China.
While waiting for the storm to pass, or not.
"
We will meet again once the epidemic is over,
" concluded Jack Ma.
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