It’s not all roses for Alibaba, as its financial technology (fintech) affiliate Ant Group remains under intense scrutiny from China’s regulators.
The planned launch of Ant Group in November was due to become the biggest ever stock market debut, raising $37bn for the fintech.
Mr Zhang said Ant’s share market launch remained on hold indefinitely.
“Ant Group’s business prospects and [Initial Public Offering] plans are subject to substantial uncertainties,” the company said in a statement.
Analysts believe this could have a significant effect on the company, along with an investigation into Alibaba’s alleged monopolistic practices which was announced by regulators in December.
“If the Chinese government is looking to crack down on outspoken entrepreneurs and take a more conservative line with their larger tech businesses then this will dent investors’ confidence in the brand, and may create an opening for others to exploit,” said Mr Halliwell.
The Ant Group is China’s biggest payments provider, with more than 730 million monthly users on its digital payments service Alipay.
The company also has a consumer lending division, which takes fees from banks to match borrowers with lending services.