Alibaba's Ma calls U.S.-China trade war 'most stupid thing in this world'

[November 05, 2018]    By Adam Jourdan

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The U.S.-China trade war is the "most stupid thing in this world," Jack Ma, the chief of Asia's most valuable public company, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd <BABA.N>, said on Monday.

Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba, arrives for a forum of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on November 5, 2018. Matthew Knight/Pool via REUTERS

The two countries have set tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other’s goods and U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on the remainder of China's $500 billion-plus exports to the United States if the trade dispute cannot be resolved.

Ma made the comments at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) held in the Chinese commercial hub of Shanghai.

The U.S. trade deficit with China, which Trump has blamed for a variety of economic ills, has helped create jobs in the U.S. and without it the country would have big problems, Ma added.

China's shift to an import model is "going to be a huge pain for a lot of businesses, but it’s also going to make a good opportunity for a lot of consumers," he said.

Ma also said the government should not worry about innovation, which it should back even if it threatened old, vested interests.

"My view is, 'Don't worry about technology'," Ma added. "The people who worry about technology are first, older people, second, government and third, successful people; they hate it and worry about it.

"I never see young people worry about technology."

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan in Shanghai; Writing by Engen Tham; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Clarence Fernandez)

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