E-Commerce Giant Alibaba Calls for New Approach to Philanthropy

In 2009, to celebrate the opening of a new headquarters in Hangzhou, China, Alibaba Group held a swimming race across the city’s Qiantang River. But as employees came ashore, they carried with them plastic bags and other garbage they’d picked up along the way. Shocked by the state of the river, a source of water for Hangzhou, Alibaba took steps to change it.

“From that day, we decided to donate 0.3 percent of our annual revenues to establish a foundation to protect the environment of the city, the nation and the world,” Executive Chairman Jack Ma said on Saturday, speaking during Alibaba’s inaugural Xin Philanthropy Conference, which was dedicated to the still-nascent sector in China.