Jack Ma’s advice for Chinese entrepreneurs in the time of coronavirus: retool, reflect and restore work at a steady pace

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The coronavirus epidemic in China presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to retool themselves and prepare for the growth, said Ma, who drove Alibaba to launch Taobao in 2003 during the Sars outbreak

In his lecture at the Hupan College, Ma channelled Kazuo Inamori, the legendary founder of Kyocera Corporation

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Jack Ma, co-founder and former chairman of Alibaba Group Holding, during a lecture on 13 January 2019 to Chinese village teachers during the 2018 Rural Teacher Awards by the Jack Ma Foundation in Sanya on Hainan island. Photo: Imaginechina

Iris Ouyang

Published: 1:17pm, 19 Feb 2020Updated: 6:27pm, 19 Feb 2020

Jack Ma, the co-founder of Asia’s biggest company by capitalisation, said the coronavirus epidermic in China presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to retool themselves and prepare for the growth that lies ahead when the outbreak subsides.

Ma, the retired chairman of Alibaba Group Holding and principal of the non-profit Hupan College in Hangzhou, told students to “find a direction amid crisis and change” that is besetting the country, according to a video clip of his lecture at the university he co-founded with eight other entrepreneurs.

“Reflect on what you really want, what you have, and what you need to give up, or stick to,” Ma said.

Ma told students to “learn digital working methods” and “adopt internet technology.” Alibaba launched its Taobao online shopping platform in 2003 when China was locked down during a nationwide outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars. Taobao is now the world’s largest e-commerce website, reporting 3 trillion yuan (US$428 billion) in transaction volume in 2017 with its Tmall.com sibling site.

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The comments by Ma, the wealthiest Chinese entrepreneur of 2019 according to Hurun Report – with a fortune estimated at US$39 billion – come as the nation’s companies and factories crank up their levers to return to work, after the coronavirus outbreak kept 50 million workers at home over an extended Lunar New Year holiday.