Tech titan Jack Ma, the co-founder of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, says the US and China should work together instead of creating more problems.
Alibaba just showed its collaborative stripes and retail power on November 11th by hosting Singles Day, the largest one-day shopping event in the world that broke records.
The company showcased multinational brands, lit up an entertainment extravaganza touting Taylor Swift and launched a new partnership offering Bitcoin rewards for online shoppers.
In a new interview with Bloomberg, Ma cautions, however, that the political differences between the world’s two largest economies are setting them on course for a 20-year rift.
Says Ma,
“If we do not handle it carefully, the trade war might not be [lasting for 20 years, but] USA and China relationship might be in some turbulence for the next 20 years. It may last. We have to be very, very careful. I think it’s so important for China and the USA, two great countries, to work together, to support economy, keep people prosperity, share a lot of technology together.
For so many years China and US have been working together. There’s a problem. That’s very natural. If there’s no problem, that’s not natural, right? So when there are problems, we have to solve the problems. We should not create more problems.”
Ma sets a high bar. While Singles Day broke records, he says it fell short of his expectation. In the future, the billionaire hopes that the Chinese government will give people a half-day off of work for the big retail event.