China's visionary B2B: who says the dot-com era is over? Alibaba.com thrives as Chinese imports and exports boom. CEO Jack Ma has a vision: helping SMEs buy and sell goods through his sites - Upfront - Company Profile

Japan, Inc., May, 2003 by Sumie Kawakami

Ma's guru-like charisma and energy may have something to do with his company's success--but don't tell him that. According to him, the moment you think you are successful, you start to fail.

Shipment Value in Dollars

Japans Exports
in Jan. 2003

China      9.7%
US        27.3%
EU        16.5%
Korea      7.4%
Other     39.1%

Japan's Imports
in Jan. 2003

China     19.3%
US        15.4%
EU        12.8%
Korea      4.9%
Other     47.6%

Source: Ministry of Finance

Note: Table made from pie charts.

Alibaba's Vision

Every employee must believe:

1. We will keep our company growing not for eight years, but for 80 years. (Editor's note: Eight is considered a lucky number by the Chinese.)

2. We will be among the world's top ten sites, not China's top fen, and not the top ten in B2B, but the top ten among every site that exists, including Yahoo.com and Aol.com.

3. We will cover the entire world.

4. Alibaba was established by Chinese, but it is not a Chinese company.

Alibaba is an Alibaba company. All people involved in Alibaba are Alibaba-ren. (ren refers to nationality in Chinese.)