Jack
Ma, executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group
Holding, isn’t worried about slowing Chinese economic growth, he told a
meeting of business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
“If
China still keeps 9 percent growth of the economy there must be
something wrong. You will never see the blue sky. You will never see
quality. China should pay attention to the quality of the economy,” he
said in a question-and-answer session at the World Economic Forum.
China’s economy grew 7.4 percent in 2014 — the slowest pace in 24 years, government data released on Tuesday showed.
The
slowdown follows thirty years of red-hot double-digit percentage growth
that has lifted millions of Chinese out of poverty and transformed the
country into the world’s second-largest economy.
But
the rapid expansion has also polluted the country’s air and water,
opened up huge income inequalities and saddled the nation with ominous
debt levels, leading policymakers to change tack and abandon the pursuit
of growth at all costs.
Alibaba,
the world’s biggest e-commerce company, made its market debut in late
September after a $25 billion initial public offering that ranked as the
largest ever.
The
firm is now planning a major move to win U.S. business this year, while
at the same time spending billions on its home turf to maintain its
edge in China’s competitive internet sector.
Chinese
consumers are curbing spending on discretionary items, a Reuters
analysis showed this week, and there are signs more people are choosing
cheaper products.
However,
Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said Alibaba had little to
worry, as the slowdown in growth was mainly being driven by other parts
of the economy.
“It’s
not consumption that would be driving the deceleration of the Chinese
economy — to the extent that it’s decelerating, it’s more because of
investment flowing down,” Luria said.
“It looks like the Chinese consumer is still strong and growing.”
Posted by : Gizmeon
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