Jack Ma's retirement will not impact Alibaba's India investments: Analyst

The retirement of Alibaba founder Jack Ma will not impact the company's investments in India as his successor will not make significant changes in the strategy, an industry analyst in China said on Wednesday.

On Monday Ma named the company's Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang as his successor who would take charge in September next year, while he would continue to be company's Director.

Alibaba has diversified portfolio in India, including investments in digital payment platform Paytm, cloud computing via Alibaba Cloud and the digital media space via UCWeb as well as several other innovative initiatives.

The company's investment strategy is not likely to undergo significant changes, Zhao Gancheng, director of the South Asia Studies Department at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies who has visited India many times, told state-run Global Times.

"It is because Alibaba's leadership regime is not based on Ma's personal charisma. The company has a set of collective decision-making mechanisms. It's an open corporation operated by a group of responsible partners," Zhao noted. "And India is generally keen on Chinese investment too."

"The Indian market has inestimable potential, but it's still hard to turn it into reality," Zhao said. "The country's business environment, laws and regulations are fairly complicated. I hope the company can make market-driven decisions there," he added.

"The developments of Alibaba's plan in India are yet to be seen," Zhao said, noting that "online payment businesses can be sensitive, because they concern national security."

"Zhang's media exposure is comparatively limited. Because of this, the implementation of Alibaba's plan in India is expected to be affected," Zhao estimated.