Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese technology giant Alibaba (BABA), has returned to China after residing abroad for more than a year as authorities in Beijing cracked down on publicly traded companies.
The return of China's best-known entrepreneur comes after a two-year regulatory crackdown that saw companies such as Alibaba singled out for punishment.
Ma's re-emergence also comes as China’s government eases up on its private sector crackdown and tries to help the economy recover from three years of COVID-19.
China's Premier Li Qiang, who is a close ally of President Xi Jinping, had said that Ma's return could help boost business confidence in the nation of 1.4 billion people.
Ma was reportedly living in Japan for the last year, though he was also spotted in Spain, Australia and Thailand.
Ma left China as Alibaba endured several government punishments, including being hit with a record anti-trust fine of $2.8 billion U.S.
Alibaba’s stock rose 4% on news of Ma's return to China. However, the company’s share price is down 25% over the last year and trading at $86.90 U.S. per share.
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