Reading tea leaves of Jack Ma’s movements

Click above for video 

It used to be China-watchers pored over the front-page pictures of the politburo of the CCP, in the Peoples Daily to discern who was in, who was out, where policies might head.

These days we have to follow the overseas movements of Alibaba founder and Chief, Jack Ma, to see what China might be up to in its industrial policy. 

There has indeed been a big push lately by the likes of Premier Li Qiang to say China “fully welcomes” private enterprise. This after several years of backtracking. 

Above, Lei gives some good insights into what’s going on. 

Lei is asked about the credibility of the SCMP. Her answer is fine. I added at the comments on the vid:

I’ve been reading the “South China Morning Post “since 1976, and I live here in Hong Kong. My bottom line assessment is: it remains the premier English language paper in Asia about Asia. The Op-Ed and Letters pages continue to carry both pro and anti-Beijing articles (including by me), and pro & anti CCP commenters. 

Considering what many feared might happen to it after being bought by Jack Ma, it remains pretty good. 

I recommend Lei’s followers take an SCMP subscription. It has a good App (though a technically lousy Comments section).

ADDED: some interesting figures on China January - February 2023 government revenue here. It looks bad… but there may be another reason! (Spoiler: to make incoming Li Qiang look better than outgoing Li Keqiang)