Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. responded to a US Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry by disclosing a larger network of Chinese government stakes in its business subsidiaries.
In a filing, the Hangzhou-based e-commerce pioneer disclosed that over a dozen of its firms are partially controlled by foreign sovereign wealth funds or Chinese state-owned enterprises. The company amended its July filing and stated in the notice that the disclosures were made “in response to certain comments from the SEC staff.”
The filings coincide with the announcement made this month by China’s ruling Communist Party that it will take a more active role in directing the nation’s scientific and technological advancements.
Six of Alibaba’s direct-sales companies were controlled by Chinese state-owned corporations; these companies accounted for less than 6% of Alibaba’s total income in the fiscal year ending in March 2023. As per the disclosures, five of those stakes were below 10%, and the other one was below 30%.
The organization added that a number of businesses in the sports, health, logistics, and local consumer services sectors were acquired by state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, Alibaba revealed that several units had minor investments from sovereign wealth funds based in Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
