Donald Trump met with executive chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma to discuss how the online retailer could help create new jobs in the United States. Alibaba is expected to create one million jobs in the US in the next five years.
Today, the majority of the company's 36,446 employees works in China. But, since more than 10 million active sellers have been working on Alibaba online marketplaces as of 2015, China’s retail markets contributed to the creation of more than 15 million jobs worldwide. Now Alibaba wants to start selling clothes, wine, and fruits in the US. In addition, the company plans to focus on the development of trading relations between the Middle West of America and the Southeast of Asia. “We're focused on small business,” Ma told reporters. “We specifically talked about... supporting 1 million small businesses, especially in the Midwest of America. Small businesses on the platform selling products — agriculture products and America services — to China and Asia, because we're pretty big in Asia.”
Experts were surprised by the fact that the meeting took place during a period of strained relations between the two countries. Earlier, Trump threatened to increase tariffs on import of China’s goods and accused the Chinese authorities of currency manipulation. However, this meeting may change Trump’s opinion on what benefits can be gained from China. At least Alibaba management understands all advantages of cooperation between the two largest economies in the world. “We also think that the China-US relationship should be strengthened – should be more friendly,” Ma said. “The door is open... for discussing the relationship and trade issues. I think the president-elect is very smart, he's very open-minded to listen.” friendly,” Ma said. “The door is open... for discussing the relationship and trade issues. I think the president-elect is very smart, he's very open-minded to listen.”
