Alibaba's Ma calls trade war 'stupidest thing in the world'

The US-China trade war is the "stupidest thing in the world," Alibaba e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma declared at an import fair that China opened Monday partly to counter foreign criticism of its trade policies.

Ma, who recently took back an earlier pledge to create a million jobs in the US -- blaming the trade war launched by Donald Trump -- made the comments in a panel discussion at the massive expo in Shanghai.

"(The) trade war is the most stupidest thing in this world," the Alibaba founder said, without mentioning Trump by name.

"Trade is to form ... peace. Trade is to communicate...nobody can stop free trade." President Xi Jinping opened the China International Import Expo earlier Monday with a vague pledge to widen access to his country's economy, as Beijing faces growing impatience from trading partners.

But he also delivered a veiled rebuke to Trumpism, decrying "protectionism", "isolationism" and "the law of the jungle".

Ma, the billionaire owner of China's largest online shopping portal, made the headline-grabbing job-creation promise to Trump last year, when Beijing was still courting the then-newly elected president.

But Ma told official news agency Xinhua in September that the trade war had "destroyed the premise the promise was made on."