Chinese billionaire Jack Ma appears for first time in months after missing rumours

Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma has appeared for the first time in months after rumours swirled over his mysterious sudden disappearance.

Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma has made his first public appearance. Picture: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP

Tech billionaire Jack Ma has made his first public appearance since November after speculation raged over the location of the missing Alibaba founder as his tech empire faces scrutiny from Chinese regulators.

Shares in internet giant Alibaba soared more than eight per cent on Wednesday after Mr Ma, one of Asia’s richest people, appeared in a video published by Chinese state media.

The 56-year-old, whose fortune is estimated at around $58 billion ($A75 billion), mysteriously disappeared from the public eye after he was hauled in front of regulators for an October speech critical of China’s financial system.

The former English teacher was abruptly replaced as a judge on the final of Africa’s Business Heroes, his Dragons’ Den-style reality show for budding entrepreneurs.

Jack Ma, billionaire and Alibaba founder, appeared in a video after suddenly disappearing from public view in November. Picture: Philippe Lopez / AFP

Shortly afterwards, the record-breaking $37 billion ($A48 billion) IPO of his financial group Ant was spiked at the last minute by mainland officials in a shock move that some saw as retaliation for Ma’s outspokenness.

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China’s finance authorities have since ordered Ant to change its business model and hack back its lending, insurance and wealth management services, while Alibaba is also the subject of an anti-monopoly probe.

Jack Ma Yun, the English teacher turned entrepreneur and former executive chairman of #Alibaba, showed up at a rural teacher-themed social welfare event via video link on Wed, his first public appearance since Alibaba came under tougher regulatory scrutiny.https://t.co/VXywPHEeyv pic.twitter.com/DKCXhASIhu

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 20, 2021

The disappearance of Mr Ma from the public eye set tongues wagging on his whereabouts.

But a video clip released by Chinese financial news outlets on Wednesday showed him in a giving a speech to rural teachers as part of an awards ceremony organised by his charity.

Shares in Alibaba soared to HK$265.00 ($A44) in Hong Kong. In the speech, Mr Ma praised China’s poverty alleviation efforts, a central target of the Communist leadership, and vowed to dedicate more efforts towards helping rural teachers.

The video of the charismatic internet entrepreneur was published by Chinese state media after the 56-year-old vanished amid scrutiny of his companies by Chinese regulators. Picture: STR / AFP

“My colleagues and I... are even more determined to devote ourselves to education and public welfare,” he said, according to a transcript of his speech published by news site Tianmu News, a subsidiary of the Zhejiang government’s official newspaper.

“China has... entered a new stage of development, and is moving towards common prosperity.”

A spokesperson for the Jack Ma Foundation, his charitable arm, confirmed that he “participated in the online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event”.

Both Alibaba and Ant said they will cooperate with regulatory requests. The charismatic internet entrepreneur retired as chairman of Alibaba in 2019 but has long attracted attention for his outspokenness and flamboyant antics, performing as a rockstar at company conferences.

The continued squeeze on one of China’s most influential companies is the latest sign that the leadership is ready to deflate the ambitions of big tech firms in a runaway internet sector.

Beijing has a history of disappearing, investigating and imprisoning financial tycoons who do not toe the party line.

Last year, outspoken real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang was jailed for 18 years on alleged corruption charges, months after penning an essay critical of the Communist Party.