Alibaba apologises for posting inaccurate maps of China, US on Twitter

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has apologised for posting on Twitter an illustration with inaccurate maps of both China and the U.S.

On the map of China, neither Taiwan nor the South China Sea islands were marked, reports the People's Daily.

The illustration was posted on Alibaba's official Twitter account to explain the trade opportunities between small businesses in the U.S. and customers in China.

However, the maps soon drew criticism for excluding Alaska and Hawaii on the U.S. side, and Taiwan and the South China Sea islands on the Chinese side.

"We apologize for making this rookie mistake. We offer no excuse for this mistake, but will make an immediate rectification. We hereby offer our deepest apologies," stated the group on its official Sina Weibo on January 10 .

The same day, the original illustration was replaced by a new and corrected version.

The development happened a day after company chairman Jack Ma met U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in New York on January. 9 to discuss how Alibaba could create more jobs by helping U.S. businesses to sell products to China. This was the first meeting between the U.S. president-elect and a high-profile Chinese businessperson.