After Long Absence

Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who has been notably absent from public view in recent years, has re-emerged, visiting a school in Hangzhou. Mr Ma had been keeping a low profile since he publicly criticised China's financial regulators in 2020. He has been one of the most high-profile Chinese billionaires to have disappeared amid a crackdown on tech entrepreneurs. According to the South China Morning Post, Mr Ma returned to China recently after more than a year overseas. The Alibaba-owned newspaper stated that Mr Ma has been travelling to different countries to learn about agricultural technology, but made no reference to why he had disappeared from public view in recent years.

During his visit to the Yungu School in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is headquartered, Mr Ma met staff and toured classrooms. He talked about the potential challenges of artificial intelligence to education, according to the school's social media page. "ChatGPT and similar technologies are just the beginning of the AI era. We should use artificial intelligence to solve problems instead of being controlled by it," he said.

Mr Ma's return to public view has been much-anticipated, particularly given the speculation that he had been placed under house arrest or had been otherwise detained. The Financial Times newspaper reported last November that Mr Ma had been living in Tokyo, Japan, for six months. Since then, there have been reported sightings of him in various countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, Thailand, and Australia.

Once the richest man in China, Mr Ma resigned from his position at Alibaba in September 2019, and subsequently gave up control of financial technology giant Ant Group in January this year. His departure from Ant was seen by some commentators as further evidence that he had fallen foul of the Chinese Communist Party for becoming outspoken and too powerful.

In October 2020, Mr Ma told a financial conference that traditional banks had a "pawn-shop mentality". The following month, Ant's planned £26bn stock market flotation, which would have been the world's largest, was cancelled at the last minute by Chinese authorities, who cited "major issues" over regulating the firm.

Mr Ma's resurfacing comes at a time when China's tech giants are facing increased scrutiny from regulators. In November 2021, the Chinese government released new draft rules aimed at preventing monopolistic practices in the internet industry. These rules were seen as a direct response to the growing power of companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance.

It remains to be seen what Mr Ma's next moves will be, but his re-emergence suggests that he is still a significant figure in China's tech industry. Given his past criticisms of China's financial regulators, it will be interesting to see whether he continues to speak out on issues related to China's tech industry and government policies.

In his recent appearance at the Yungu School, Jack Ma was seen wearing a navy blue sweater over a white shirt, and a pair of jeans. The school also shared a photo of him posing with teachers and students.

The reappearance of the high-profile entrepreneur and philanthropist has generated intense interest, with the hashtag "Jack Ma has appeared" trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Many netizens expressed their relief at seeing Mr Ma again, while others speculated on the reasons for his sudden disappearance and suggested that his low profile was linked to the Chinese government's ongoing crackdown on big tech companies.

The Chinese authorities have taken a hard line on the country's tech giants in recent years, with a wave of new regulations targeting the industry. The government has cited concerns over data privacy and the need to curb the influence of big tech firms as reasons for the crackdown.

Mr Ma's own company, Alibaba, has been hit hard by the regulatory crackdown. In April, the Chinese government fined the company a record $2.8 billion for violating anti-monopoly rules.

The company has also been forced to overhaul its operations in order to comply with the new regulations, and has seen its valuation drop by more than $200 billion since October 2020.

However, some experts believe that Mr Ma's disappearance may have been linked to his comments about China's financial regulators at the Bund Summit in Shanghai in October 2020, where he criticised the country's state-owned banks and financial regulators, calling for a reform of the financial system.

The comments were seen as a direct challenge to the Chinese government's authority, and many analysts believe that Mr Ma's subsequent disappearance was a sign of the government's displeasure.

In any case, Mr Ma's return to the public eye has been welcomed by many, who see him as an important figure in China's tech industry and a symbol of the country's entrepreneurial spirit.

However, it remains to be seen whether his reappearance will be followed by a more active role in the industry, or whether he will continue to keep a low profile in the face of ongoing regulatory pressure.