Jack Ma who used to be known as an accomplished businessman, inspirational speaker and of course a flamboyant figure. But now he is different, perhaps as his move to quell the anger of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
Jack Ma's new mission seems to be to help with education in rural China as well as farmers. This he specifically wrote in a letter sent to Xi Jinping.
"He wrote directly to Xi earlier this year offering to devote his whole life to educating rural people, according to a government source who said the president discussed the letter," Reuters wrote.
It is uncertain whether Xi Jinping accepted the offer, but it could be. Evidently later, Jack Ma was keen to learn technology to help develop agriculture and he was free to travel abroad.
On September 1, he was seen visiting farmland in Zhejiang Province. Then, Jack Ma visited countries in Europe to study agricultural technology there while on vacation.
Reported by Hong Kong media which is also owned by Alibaba, South China Morning Post, Jack Ma visited the Netherlands to visit a research institution engaged in agricultural technology. In Spain, Jack Ma also took the time to do the same.
SCMP published several photos of Jack Ma in the Netherlands. Among other things, he was seen wearing a white protective suit and holding a pot. In the third photo, Jack Ma is wearing jeans and a hoodie while observing BOAL Systems' aluminum technology.
What exactly is Jack Ma's mission by doing this? Reportedly, he wants to combine Alibaba's cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence technologies to help modernize China's agriculture. Maybe Xi Jinping has given his blessing.
As reported, October 2020 Jack Ma criticized the Chinese government's financial system, which got him banned by the Xi Jinping government. His companies Alibaba and Ant Group were pressured and fined, and Jack Ma no longer appeared in public.
However, it was revealed that Xi Jinping had reportedly been disliking Jack Ma for a long time. What is the reason?
In 2017, Jack Ma visited the United States and met with the then president, Donald Trump. They talk intimately and Jack Ma promises to open a million jobs for Americans.
Well according to a Reuters source, the meeting was not favored by the Chinese government. Chinese officials told Alibaba that Beijing did not like Jack Ma meeting Trump without his permission.
Especially at that time, Trump began to often criticize China for taking American jobs. Four related sources believe that this was the turning point at which Jack Ma's relations with Beijing began to deteriorate. However, at that time, no decisive action had been taken.
Jack Ma is still traveling the world and meeting important figures. He also often receives VIP guests at Alibaba headquarters. Ma considers the series of meetings to be unofficial diplomacy for China and he is happy to do so.
Time passed, Jack Ma finally hit the rock after his speech. "Because Jack Ma is too provocative, not in line with the new approach of the Xi Jinping administration, he is certainly a natural target that major change has already begun," said Duncan Clark, a former adviser to Jack Ma.
