Jack Ma hints at continued interest in Hong Kong listing for Alibaba

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma Yun says he misjudged attitudes towards his company in his failed bid to sell shares in Hong Kong and that he wants to improve the understanding of his business in the city - a fresh sign to some that the potential HK$100 billion deal may yet be done here.

"I used to think I knew Hong Kong," Ma told reporters from the city invited to the firm's Hangzhou headquarters at the start of a fresh public relations campaign to try to rebuild the e-commerce giant's reputation in Hong Kong.

"But I noticed that we didn't do enough to make Hong Kong people understand what kind of company Alibaba is, nor have we done enough in understanding Hong Kong."

Alibaba's share sale plans collapsed when it became clear that Ma's determination to retain a controversial partnership structure at the top of the organisation was unacceptable to the Securities and Futures Commission.

The regulator says the partnership structure that gives a coterie of top executives the right to nominate a majority of the company's board members breaches the principle of "one shareholder, one vote", which underpins the city's securities laws.

Arguments put forward by Alibaba's advisers trying to sway public opinion veered from lauding the uniqueness of the firm's corporate culture to claims that Hong Kong's listing rules were relics of history not suited to firms in the internet age, and ultimately to pitting the city head-to-head with New York, all of which served to harden the stance of regulators and sour public opinion towards the company.