'Don’t worry about China’s economic slowdown,' says Alibaba founder

'Don’t worry about China’s economic slowdown,' says Alibaba founder. January. 25, 2016 07:38. by 뉴욕=부형권특파원 bookum90@donga.com. Jack Ma, the founder of founder of the Chinese online retailer Alibaba, said that China is making efforts to shift from an export-driven country to a consumption (import)-driven one.

“China’s consumption is going up, services are going up, and high-tech businesses are going up. But traditional businesses are going down,” Ma said in an interview with Russia Today, a state-funded satellite television network, on Thursday. “This is a healthy thing.”

“China is transforming its economy from exporting to importing," he said. "For the next two to three years, there may be some challenges. But as long as the job market is there and the consumption of China continues to grow, there is no need to worry about that (the Chinese economy).”

“We got 300 million middle class people (out of 1.3 billion population) in China, and in 10 to 15 years, we’re going to have 500 million. It is an (good) opportunity for China and also for the world,” he said. “So, don’t worry.”

When asked about the U.S. market and a potential deterioration of the economy, he said, “I never worry about any market. I worry about ourselves (Alibaba) and how we can do better.”

China’s growth rate fell from 7.4 percent in 2014 to 6.9 percent last year, and it is expected to be 6.3 percent this year. “I don’t see it as a hard landing although there could be some waves (impact on the market) in the course of the change of a large vessel (China)’s direction,” an analyst said.