During a conference call with analysts Thursday morning, Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said the company is “actively evaluating the impact” of proposed regulatory changes to the fintech world in China “and will take appropriate measures accordingly.”
But no matter what happens with Ant Group, Alibaba is still benefiting from the rebound in the Chinese economy following the coronavirus outbreak that emerged there late last year.
The company reported solid growth in e-commerce revenue, as well as a healthy jump in both overall customers and mobile active users for its Taobao and Tmall sites and apps.
Recovering from coronavirus
“Our domestic core commerce business continued to grow steadily during the post-COVID-19 environment in China through higher purchase frequency and consumer spending,” said Alibaba CFO Maggie Wu in a statement.
Tmall’s apparel sales growth rates even exceeded pre-coronavirus levels, the company said.
Meanwhile, Alibaba is also busy prepping for its annual November 11 online shopping extravaganza, which is similar to a combination of America’s Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Amazon Prime Day deals.
Alibaba said it expects more than 250,000 brands to participate in its Singles Day event and that two million new products will debut during it.
On the political side, Alibaba did not address the outcome of the US presidential election in the earnings release or early part of the conference call. Some analysts have expressed hopes that if Joe Biden is ultimately declared the winner and becomes the next president, he might look to restore more normal trade relations with China and other nations.
But Zhang simply noted during the conference call that Alibaba’s “businesses related to international markets continued to enjoy rapid growth” and did not mention America specifically.