Jack Ma tells Trump Alibaba can help 1 million small businesses in US

Jack Ma (R), founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, and President-elect Donald Trump pose for the media after their meeting at Trump Tower in New York on January 9, 2017. [Photo: CFP]

Jack Ma, the founder and chairman of China's e-business giant Alibaba, met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday. The two disclosed that they have been talking about small businesses and great things.

Our Washington chief correspondent Xiaohong has more.

The meeting took place Monday, just less than two weeks prior to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Trump called the meeting productive and praised Ma as a great entrepreneur.

"We had a great meeting. And [Ma is] a great, great entrepreneur, one of the best in the world. He loves this country and he loves China. And Jack and I are going to do some great things."

Jack Ma kept a low profile, saying they talked about small businesses.

"We mainly talked about small business, young people, and exporting American agricultural products to china. We also think, that the relationship between China and the U.S. should be strengthened, be more friendly, and better."

The Mid-West will be given priority as Alibaba is planning to expand its business in the U.S. The company disclosed that it aims to help one million small businesses and farmers sell to China and Asia through its colossal e-business platforms in the next 5 years.

Trump has criticized international trade and U.S. trade with China in particular, for the loss of jobs. That has raised concerns across the spectrum as business and academic circles are worried about the future of global trade and China-U.S. relations.

Jack Ma had this suggestion.

"I advise and suggest that we can go through the business community to understand the situation better and do it in a better way."

However, the company's ambitious expansion plan has met new obstacles. The U.S. Trade Representative last month put Alibaba back on a black list of counterfeit marketplaces. The move is surely likely to hurt Alibaba's international business.

Regardless, the company's stock rallied, on news of the meeting.

Xiaohong, CRI, Washington DC.