Alibaba’s finance chief voices confidence in China’s AI boom and consumer market

Alibaba Group Holding’s chief financial officer Toby Xu Hong reiterated the company’s confidence in China’s growing artificial intelligence sector and the consumer market’s resilience in an interview with state news agency Xinhua, as he highlighted the tech giant’s significant investments in AI research, infrastructure, and on-demand delivery.

Xu said Alibaba had earmarked 380 billion yuan (US$52 billion) for AI infrastructure, and 50 billion yuan for subsidies to merchants and consumers to support the country’s tech and internet services development, according to the report on Wednesday.

“Such large investments are based on in-depth analyses, with our continual confidence in the outlook of the Chinese market and the role of private enterprises in the nation’s development being the most important factors,” said Xu, who was appointed Alibaba’s finance chief in 2022 after joining the company in 2018.

Alibaba owns the Post.

Xu noted that a business symposium hosted by President Xi Jinping in February, which included entrepreneurs like Alibaba founder Jack Ma, greatly encouraged the private sector, prompting the company to make a series of strategic commitments.

An Alibaba booth during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Monday. Photo: EPA

That same month, Alibaba announced plans to invest at least 380 billion yuan over the next three years in AI, cloud computing and related infrastructure – an amount exceeding its total spending in those areas over the past decade.

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