Jack Ma cancels keynote speech at counterfeit group meeting
NEW YORK (AP) — Jack Ma, the head of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is withdrawing from an anti-counterfeiting convention in Florida just two days before he was scheduled to give the keynote speech.
Alibaba announced the move Tuesday following last week's suspension of the company's membership in the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, a small but influential group that lobbies U.S. officials and testifies before Congress.
According to an investigation by The Associated Press, Barchiesi had stock in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., had close ties to an Alibaba executive and had used family members to help run the coalition.
The IACC website listed Ma scheduled to talk Thursday about the importance of e-commerce and Alibaba's efforts to protect intellectual property rights on its platforms.