Alibaba reassures investors on its future

In a letter to shareholders published late Thursday, Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., reassured investors of the group's growth prospects.

Alibaba made history with the world's largest IPO last September. Its stock price peaked in November at around 120 U.S. dollars, followed by a long slow slide. However, it recovered from its 52-week low to 57.2 U.S. dollars a share recently.

"Signals of China's economic slowdown have triggered widespread concern and, I believe, overreaction around the world," Ma wrote in the letter.

He added that an economy that continues to experience rapid growth is neither realistic nor sustainable and China should not aim for such growth.

China's economy has immense potential. "It will not be easy, but China's future 'economic miracle' will lie in its ability to boost productivity and its use of big data and Internet technology to stimulate domestic consumption and generate exponential development opportunities," he wrote.

Ma does not agree that consumption will decline as economic growth slows, because of the country's high savings rate.

At the end of March 2015, the gross merchandise volume of Alibaba's China retail marketplaces had reached RMB 2.44 trillion, accounting for 9 percent of China's retail consumption.

"We predict that over 50 percent of China's consumption will be conducted online within 10 years, and that means massive potential for the e-commerce market," Ma wrote.

He pointed out that e-commerce is only a fraction of the group strategy. "What we are building is an open, transparent and collaborative infrastructure for commerce."

The company's key priorities for the next decade will be globalization, development of the rural economy and big data, he added.