Submitted by George Chen via The South China Morning Post,
What is the biggest risk for investors in China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba? In one word: politics.
Jack Ma Yun, English teacher-turned entrepreneur, is already a legend in China for the incredibly fast growth and remarkable success of the e-commerce firm he founded in 1999. I have no doubt about Ma’s business experience and leadership skills, but there is one thing Ma – and many of his rivals – may be worried about. Politics.
The Alibaba success story is not just about Alibaba itself. It is about the inevitable trend of globalisation, the rise of China as a country on political and economic fronts, and also about how eager Beijing is to support and build up a crop of new national brands that can compete with the likes of Google and Amazon in the United States.
“To have political connections in Beijing … isn’t necessarily bad. Many companies try to do so”
Beijing’s support – directly or indirectly – is a key factor in Alibaba’s success. Without the government’s support, Ma would not have felt confident enough to speak in New York in front of hundreds of Wall Street investors during the recent roadshow for Alibaba’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
Ma understands the importance of the government’s backing for Alibaba and most of the time he has been good at lobbying Beijing for policy support.
However, in at least one case he had a setback and was honest enough to tell the public how he felt about that.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on 09/14/2014.
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