Jack Ma casting net into smart fisheries

Alibaba's (9988) founder Jack Ma Yun was found to indirectly hold a minority stake in a newly established firm linked to several former Alibaba executives, fueling speculations that the smart agriculture and fisheries sector the firm aims to focus on could be the tech giant's next business as well, state-owned media reported.

A firm called 1.8 Meters Ocean Technology was established on July 20, with a registered capital of 110 million yuan (HK$120 million), the Securities Times reported. Its businesses range from aquaculture, food sales, frozen processing of aquatic products and research and development of offshore wind power-related systems.

Of the existing six shareholders, the second largest is a company indirectly owned by Ma. Moreover, it has several senior executives who have the same name as some key employees in Alibaba.

Ma has earlier shown his interest in the smart farming business. He has holdings in a company which was founded in 2020 centered on the research and development of marine fishery sciences and technology. Ma also visited institutions in Japan, the Netherlands and Thailand for agriculture and fishery-related technologies in recent years.

Meanwhile, Ant Group and Standard Chartered (2888) have said they would work together in green finance and global fund management, broadening their existing partnership.

The deal is the first high-profile tie-up between the financial company separated from Alibaba and a major foreign bank since authorities cancelled a planned mega-initial public offering by the fintech giant in 2020.

StanChart will help Ant build "an industry-leading global liquidity and foreign exchange management structure," they said in a joint statement.