Jack Ma

Jack Ma will cede control of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, the company has announced, following a Communist Party crackdown on the nation's tech sector that targeted the charismatic billionaire.    

Shares in Alibaba slumped more than 5 percent yesterday following a report that Beijing regulators had ordered a fresh investigation into state firms' links with the Chinese e-commerce giant's fintech arm Ant Group.

Chinese regulators hit e-commerce giant Alibaba with a record 18.2 billion yuan ($2.78 billion) fine on Saturday over practices deemed to be an abuse of the company's dominant market position.

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma announced on Sept. 10 he would step down as head of the pioneering Chinese e-commerce giant in one year, a departure already drawing comparisons to the retirement of late Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Alibaba co-founder and chief Jack Ma announced he will leave from the Chinese e-commerce giant Monday to devote his time to philanthropy focused on education.

Ma was an English teacher before starting Alibaba in 1999 and built it into a multibillion-dollar internet colossus.

Alibaba said on Nov. 20 that it would take a major stake in one of China's top food sellers for $2.9 billion as the e-commerce giant expands further into the retail world

A robot waiter serves fruit to customers at a restaurant in Xuchang, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 11, 2015. The robot, worth some 13,000 dollars (80 thousand yuan), has been put into use to serve customers at the restaurant for ten days. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

President-elect Donald Trump said he had a “great meeting” with Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma on Monday, when they discussed 1 million new U.S. jobs.

Ma said that Alibaba’s expansion would focus on products like garments, wine and fruits, with a special focus on trade between the American midwest and southeast Asia.

Chinese internet billionaire Jack Ma has bought a stake in cinema legend Steven Spielberg's company, they said, the latest tie-up between China and Hollywood as they seek to make movies for audiences in the Middle Kingdom and beyond.

China's Internet users - already by far the world's most numerous - rose to nearly 700 million in 2015, authorities said on Jan. 22, more than twice the population of the United States.

Beijing imposes strict controls on online content, while e-commerce is a vital part of its efforts to transform the economy into one driven more by consumer demand.