Alibaba unlikely to meet one million US jobs creation promise: Jack Ma

The ongoing trade row between China and the US will make it hard for Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to fulfill its promise of creating one million jobs in the US, according to its founder Jack Ma.

He said he made the vow on the assumption of a friendly US-China business partnership and rational trade relations.

That premise no longer exists so the promise cannot be fulfilled, Ma said during the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China, and as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese billionaire made the promise in 2017 during a meeting with then US president-elect Donald Trump.

One million jobs would be close to 1% of all jobs in the US and would make Alibaba one of the country’s largest private employers.

The US-China relationship, however, has soured in recent months, with both countries introducing escalating trade tariffs.

Ma said that trade tensions between the United States and China could last for as long as two decades and would be “a mess” for all parties involved.