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Alibaba Foundation Hosts First-Ever Philanthropy Conference in China

BABA | July 8, 2016

Alibaba Foundation Hosts First-Ever Philanthropy Conference in China

The Alibaba Foundation, a charitable organization established by Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), will host July 9-10 a first-of-its-kind philanthropy conference in Hangzhou. The Xin Philanthropy Conference will bring together philanthropy pioneers in China with experts from around the world to foster an exchange of ideas and best practices and inspire a new generation of Chinese to make a positive social impact on the world.

The conference brings together heavyweights from the world of multilateral organizations and corporate social responsibility. Keynote speakers include Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group; Ban Ki Moon, United Nations Secretary General; Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Salman Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy; Yao Ming, Founder of the Yao Ming Foundation; and Jet Li, founder of the One Foundation. The conference will be livestreamed beginning Saturday, July 9, 2016 at 9:30AM in China / 9:30PM ET at http://zb.youku.com/live/zone/Z7EeANyHw6I.html.

Attendees will include nearly 1,000 representatives from Chinese nonprofits, NGOs, leading academic institutions and companies, as well as young social entrepreneurs.

Over the last fifteen years China's economic growth has created more than 1.3 million millionaires and is expected to add another 1 million by 2020. Even with this boom and overall rise of the middle class in China, infrastructure to support effective charitable giving remains underdeveloped. A May 2016 report from the United Nations Development Programme (“UNDP”) found that total charitable giving in China is just 4 percent of the level in the U.S. or Europe.

Alibaba Group Founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma commented, “Everyone should have the opportunity to make the world better. The purpose of the Xin philanthropy conference is to inspire the young generation to give back and to support the development of philanthropy in China. It’s not enough to have good will, we also need the talent, the planning and the execution to make a sustainable impact in China and in the world.”

Alibaba Group was founded with a social mission and believes that companies and entrepreneurs can make the greatest positive impact by keeping social purpose at the heart of the business model. From job creation, financial inclusion, rural development and women’s empowerment, Alibaba is making an impact through its core business. Alibaba has directly and indirectly created 15 million jobs, including people who work directly for online storefronts and service providers to merchants.

In 2011, Alibaba Group established the Alibaba Foundation, which has earmarked 0.3% of Alibaba Group’s annual revenue to fund efforts designed to encourage environmental awareness and social responsibility in China. In fiscal year 2016, Alibaba Foundation made over RMB210 million (USD 31.4 million) in donations to support various charitable causes and initiatives. In 2014 Ma set up the Jack Ma Foundation which focuses on education, environment, public health and people development in the nonprofit sector, with a view to fostering an innovative and sustainable model for a better world.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group's mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. It is the largest retail commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce and engage with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses.