Interview: "E-WTO" necessary in era of e-commerce: Jack Ma

Founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma said here Wednesday that the global economy needs an upgraded trade mechanism in the era of e-commerce. He personally termed it "e-WTO" or "WTO 2.0."

"WTO was a great thing in the past 20 years. It was helping big companies, developed nations at that time. But I think today, because of the Internet, we should think about how to use 'e-WTO' or 'WTO 2.0' to help small businesses," Ma said in an interview with Xinhua.

Thanks to the internet technology, Ma said, Alibaba had empowered more than 12 million businesses, most of which are small ones, in China. "We help them sell and buy on-line, we help them work efficiently. This thing can be working in China, why can't it work in other parts of the world," he said.

For Ma, this is in line with the theme of this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, namely "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World."

The Alibaba founder said that "small guys" are the most innovative forces, and a real trade treaty should be an agreement between businesses. "Businesses agree, then governments follow. We have being waiting for the Doha Round for so many years. Let's work out a solution."

"Every free trade is the best tool to make people better understand each other. Trade is not only about products, it's about culture, passion and innovation. No matter which country you are, what size your company is, trade is a freedom," he said.

"Alibaba will be involved in building up payment channels, logistic infrastructure, and support the 'small guys' (referring to micro and small businesses) to do business across countries," he told Xinhua.

Earlier in the day, Ma delivered a speech at the CEO Summit of the APEC meetings saying "infrastructure in China was bad when the internet came. We made the infrastructure really work and sophisticated."

"In the United States, retailers such as Walmart are everywhere, e-commerce is just like a dessert, while in China, e-commerce is becoming the main course," Ma said.

During the annual "Nov. 11" on-line shopping carnival held one week ago, transaction through Alibaba's network reached 91.2 billion Chinese yuan (14.27 billion U.S. dollars) in 24 hours.

Ma said the "miracle" was made by tens of millions of "small guys," and he had the ambition to make this shopping festival a world-wide feast in the next 10 years.

For the future development of internet-related economy, Ma said there will be around 30 years of good time for growth. Looking back on the three major technology revolutions of mankind, it's always 20 years for the technology, and 30 years for implementation, he said.

"For internet, we have just passed 20 years, so the next 30 years will be about implementation of internet technology. It will go into every aspect of life, and have everyone related," said Ma. Endit