China's e-commerce development will definitely surpass the US and the world's No. 1 e-commerce company will certainly emerge in China in 10 years, said Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company.

"Five years ago people laughed at me when I gave a speech in the US, saying that the number of Internet users in China will surpass that of the US. But today, no one will laugh," he said.

Despite 50 million yuan reduced profits in the first quarter, Alibaba still helped 50,000 small and medium-sized enterprises out of crisis. If there are 10 people in each of these enterprises, 500,000 people will have regained hope and confidence as a result. Ma said that the key does not lie in how much money Alibaba can make, but in helping more customers weather the crisis via e-commerce.

Alibaba's senior managers recently went to the US for an 18-day market research and study tour, visiting Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Starbucks and General Electric, exchanging views with George Soros as well as Bill Clinton. During the course, they found the US shrouded by economic recession. Everyone was in panic, because companies kept filing for bankruptcy while others were cutting staff.

In retrospect, 10 years ago when Ma went to Silicon Valley in the US to strive for venture capital, many technical people in Silicon Valley had to work overnight as their technologies impacted the world. After he returned to China, Ma aspired to build such a dream, hoping to develop such a company in China during the next decade.

Ten years later when Ma went back to the US, however, he found that the same people he had met before in Silicon Valley had lost their dreams, only focusing on how to make a living next month. When introducing their products, the engineers from famous IT companies did not talk about how many people their products will affect and help, but rather how much money they could earn.

Ma stated that after the trip his team members now have stronger confidence in China, in themselves and the future.　

By People's Daily Online