Jack Ma, founder of Chinese online retailer Alibaba, is a member of the Communist Party. The surprising membership revealed on Monday the party organ „People’s Daily“ in an article about important drivers of the country’s development.
Ma is considered the richest man in China. His comments have so far rather close to the desire for distance from politics. „My philosophy is to love the government – but not to marry it,“ said Ma, for example, at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2007.
Also in the IPO of Alibaba in the United States in 2014 was of a party affiliation of the Group CEO Ma no speech. Since when exactly he is a party member is not known. Alibaba refused to comment on request. Ma wants to hand over the management in September of next year.
„And never cheat the party“
Party members in China must swear an oath. He said, „Be loyal to the party, work actively, fight for communism all your life, be prepared to sacrifice everything for the party and the people, and never cheat the party.“
President Xi Jinping wants to extend the party’s influence to the private sector. In companies with more than three party members, these are required to form a „cell“ – if not enough Party members get together, they should team up with those in nearby companies.
In three out of four companies in China, there is a Communist Party organization. It continues to exercise far-reaching influence on society, including through a system of penal camps that do not respect human rights.
