Alibaba has been moved to reduce tensions with Donald Trump as the US president continues to threaten Chinese companies.
Chief Executive Daniel Zhang said the online retailer’s policy “supports U.S. markets, retailers, small businesses and farmers.”
The remarks came when the tech giant announced a better-than-expected jump in quarterly sales.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has promised to set rates on U.S. companies that refuse to return jobs from abroad.
Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on U.S. technology companies to cut ties with Chinese companies, including cloud computing suppliers Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu as part of the Trump administration’s so-called “Clean Network” program.
It came as Mr. Trump signed two executive orders targeting Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok and messaging platform WeChat.
“Alibaba’s primary commercial focus in the US is to support US markets, retailers, small businesses and farmers to sell to consumers and trading partners in China, as well as other major markets around the world,” Mr Zhang told investors.
“We are closely monitoring the recent shift in US government policy towards Chinese companies, which is a very fluid situation. We are assessing the situation and any potential impact carefully and thoroughly, and will take necessary actions to comply with new regulations,” he added.
At the same time, the Hangzhou-based company said its commercial company’s sales rose 34% in the three months to June, compared to a year ago.
Alibaba’s shares have risen more than 20% this year as investors threw money into technology companies that have seen profits from people staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Analysis Box by Karishma Vaswani, Asia Business Correspondent
Alibaba’s strong results reflect China’s economic handball after the pandemic.
In fact, the company said so much during its call for revenue – the jump in revenue attributed to China’s effective management of the outbreak in much of the country.
But there is also the fact that the coronavirus fundamentally changed consumer behavior in China.
In the midst of lockdowns, people flocked online to buy things like yoga mats and face masks.
Since then, when Chinese consumers came out of quarantine, there has been a huge rise in, for example, sales of cosmetics.
But the pandemic also forced more people online to buy their groceries, and it is a trend that is continuing in a post-coronavirus China.
Another rebound is yet to be restored. And while the recovery of Alibaba mainly depends on the fortunes of the Chinese market, tensions between Beijing and Washington will weigh on both them and China’s growth prospects.
Trump’s China collapse
Alibaba’s boss’s remarks came in a week that Mr Trump has seen his election campaign speeches threaten more action to push back against China.
At an event in Pennsylvania on Thursday, he said that if he is re-elected, Washington will impose tariffs on U.S. companies that refuse to relocate jobs back to the U.S.
“We will give tax credits to companies to bring jobs back to America, and if they do not, we will place rates on these companies, and they will have to pay us a lot of money,” he said.
That came on top of the president’s promise earlier this week to offer tax credits to lure U.S. companies to relocate factories from China.
He also threatened to strip US government contracts of companies that continue to outsource work to China.
