雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr KWOK, Frieda Yuk-yin, Senior Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Ms Qiu, Tina Wei,Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

JACK MA, founder of Alibaba, is to resign as chairman of the company's board of directors in one year to focus on his educational philanthropy.

[ENG audio 1]

A successful entrepreneur not only creates wealth for themselves but also brings about profound changes to society. A larger-than-life person, Ma is idolised by some and criticised by others for conniving at the infringement of copyright, his flamboyant style and being headstrong on the strength of his money. However, most people will agree that Ma is a visionary and perspicacious trail-blazer. To Hong Kong stock investors, the most memorable thing about Ma was the controversy over whether to introduce a Weighted Voting Rights (WVR) mechanism, which resulted in Alibaba going public in the US instead of Hong Kong. However, to move with the times in the innovation and technology sector, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing changed the listing rules earlier this year by allowing WVR arrangements. Ma's influences over mainland people's daily lives can even be described as far-reaching. In recent years, Ma has often accompanied leaders of the national government on their foreign visits, and prominent politicians from countries all around the world have expressed their wishes to meet with Ma on their own initiatives. It can be said that Ma is an extremely influential individual in modern China.

[ENG audio 2]

Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and Jingdong, collectively known as "BATJ", are the four giants in the field of innovation and technology in mainland China. Ma, who used to be an English teacher, founded Alibaba 19 years ago and made a foray into electronic commerce. He founded Taobao subsequently, which became the biggest online shopping platform on the mainland within just two years. Alibaba's scope of business expanded, covering not only electronic commerce but also other industries. From Alipay, which was intended to address the safety issue of online transactions, to Ant Financial, Alibaba has gained a foothold in the banking and insurance industries. By starting as an internet company and participating in industries ranging from finance, entertainment and the media, Alibaba has adopted a developmental mode that has turned these industries upside down, altered the business models of all industries and changed the consumption patterns of Chinese people. Alibaba has a market value of over US$400 billion, and Ma has become a household name with a personal worth of over US$40 billion. That Ma has decided to retire at the age of just 54 is very unusual in the sector of mainland private enterprises, and it has rightly attracted a lot of discussions.

[ENG audio 3]

In China, many enterprises find it hard to sustain their initial success even though they took the world by storm at the beginning. The founder of a company might be a person of sound judgement, but sooner or later he or she has to leave. For a Chinese enterprise to reach new heights, it is necessary to create a sound corporate culture and perfect the management system. Obviously, Ma has put in a lot of effort in this regard.

[ENG audio 4]

As Ma will remain one of the partners, he will have intangible influence on the company even after he resigns as chairman of the board of directors. Alibaba has also stressed that Ma will continue to take part in the operations of the company, hoping that that can ease investors' concerns. It remains to be seen whether Alibaba can reach new heights without Ma. However, if Chinese enterprises are to develop maturely, the strengthening of corporate culture and institution-building are obviously a necessary trial.

[ENG audio 5]

建設健全企業文化 馬雲引退開新時代

阿里巴巴創辦人馬雲，將於一年後正式辭去董事會主席職務，專心教育慈善事業。

[PTH audio 1]

成功的企業家，不止為自己製造財富，更會為社會帶來深刻變化。馬雲作風高調出位，有人視他為偶像，有人批評他縱容翻版盜版，行事張揚，「有錢就是任性」，然而相信許多人都認同，馬雲是很有眼光和洞察力的開創者。香港股民對馬雲印象最深的，莫過於當年同股不同權爭議，最終阿里捨港取美上市，不過港交所為了順應創科潮流，今年也得改變上市規則，容許同股不同權。至於馬雲對內地民眾日常生活的影響，更是無遠弗屆。近年馬雲經常跟隨國家領導人出訪，各國政要也主動希望跟他會晤，馬雲可說是當今中國社會一位極具影響力的人物。

[PTH audio 2]

阿里巴巴與百度、騰訊和京東合稱「BATJ」，是內地科網領域四大巨頭。馬雲曾任英語教師，19年前創立阿里巴巴，進軍電子商務市場，其後建立淘寶網， 短短兩年間成為內地最大網上購物平台。阿里巴巴的版圖，隨着電子商務擴展至不同行業，當初為了解決網絡安全交易衍生的支付寶，後來便演變為金融公司螞蟻金服，打入銀行和保險業市場。阿里巴巴從互聯網涉足金融、娛樂、媒體等各行各業的發展模式，顛覆了行業生態，扭轉了各行業的經營模式，也改變了中國人消費模式。阿里巴巴市值超過4000億美元，馬雲亦成為家傳戶曉名字，身家超過400億美元。馬雲年僅54歲，盛年引退在內地民企甚為罕見，自然惹來不少議論。

[PTH audio 3]

在中國，很多企業就算風頭一時無兩，然而風光往往難以持久。創辦人不管如何英明，終有離開之日，中國企業要走得更遠，需要致力建立健全企業文化，完善管理制度。馬雲在這方面明顯下了不少苦功。

[PTH audio 4]

由於馬雲將會留在「合伙人」之中，即使馬雲辭任董事會主席，相信對公司仍有無形影響力，阿里巴巴亦強調，馬雲將繼續參與公司事務，盼能減少投資者疑慮。沒有了馬雲的阿里巴巴，未來能否更上一層樓，仍需拭目以待，然而中國企業若要真正成熟發展，加強企業文化和制度建設，顯然是必經的試煉。

[PTH audio 5]

明報社評2018.09.11

【Bilingual Editorial】