Share prices of Jack Ma’s Alibaba rebounded Tuesday after Hangzhou police clarified that a person identified only as “Ma,” charged with national security violations, had a three-character name and therefore could not be Jack Ma, known in China as Ma Yun.
Share prices in Jack Ma Yun’s Alibaba initially dropped sharply on Tuesday morning after Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported earlier that an individual named Ma had “compulsory curbs” placed upon them relating to violations of national security. However, it was later revealed by the Hangzhou police that the person in question was not Jack Ma but a person with a three-character name instead. The share price of Jack Ma affiliated stocks then began to rebound.
Chinese authorities in the city of Hangzhou, home base to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Ant Group Co., had imposed “compulsory curbs” on an individual surnamed Ma, state broadcaster CCTV reported early Tuesday.
The otherwise unidentified person was placed under the so-called controls on April 25 after being accused of inciting subversion of state power and other activities that endangered national security, CCTV said in its brief report, without elaborating.
Shares in Alibaba slid more than 9 percent in Hong Kong.
The earlier report by the state broadcaster led to a brief bout of concern about the status of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Jack Ma which triggered wild swings in shares of the e-commerce company on Tuesday, underscoring continued investor anxiety toward China’s tech sector after a year-long crackdown.
Alibaba plunged as much as 9.4 percent in Hong Kong, erasing about US$26 billion of market value after state broadcaster CCTV reported that authorities in the company’s home base of Hangzhou had imposed curbs on an individual surnamed Ma.
Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of Global Times, quickly reacted and denied all the rumors.
He confirmed that the detained person’s name has a two-word last name instead of one word. Jack Ma’s Chinese name is the two-character Ma Yun.
“Reports that mention the detained person with his or her name containing only two characters are incorrect,” he said.
Huang Rihan, associate professor at the college of international relations at Huaqiao University, also posted photos showing Ma planting trees on May 1, confirming that Ma is safe.
In another post, he said,” The person who mistakenly wrote the news should bear the responsibility. With the difference of only one character, the stock loses ¥100 billion.”
Separately, the stock rebounded after a statement from Hangzhou police indicated the accused person’s name covered three characters. CCTV also updated its report to show a third character.
The accused person works as the director of hardware research and development at an IT company, the state-run Global Times reported, citing unidentified sources. CCTV said the person was placed under so-called “compulsory measures” on April 25 after being accused of inciting subversion of state power and other activities that endangered national security.
According to sources, the arrestee is Ma Hongjun from DAS-Security - a cybersecurity enterprise in Hangzhou.
CCTV’s two-sentence report lacked other details but rattled investors already on edge over Beijing’s clampdown over every corner of the internet sphere, which kicked off by targeting Ma. Regulators halted the IPO of Ma’s Ant Group Co. before waging a campaign to rein in alleged abuses and excesses by increasingly powerful internet firms.
Chinese authorities in Hangzhou, where both Alibaba and Ant are based, were unavailable for comment during the Golden Week holidays. Representatives for Alibaba and Ant didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Alibaba shares slipped 0.1 percent to HK$102 at 11.15am in Hong Kong.
(Staff and Bloomberg)
