Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba is charting an uncertain path in the cloud computing market in Australia, as the company seeks to grow its operations while managing the heightened scrutiny on Chinese technology firms.

Alibaba reported last week that earnings growth fell to 41 per cent in the December quarter, its slowest since 2016, amid a broader economic slowdown. But cloud computing – a key pillar in the $595 billion company's international expansion – remained among the fastest growing parts of the business, posting a revenue increase of 84 per cent year-on-year to $1.3 billion.