Alibaba acquires Hong Kong's English daily

Beijing: China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba which has acquired Hong Kong's famous English daily South China Morning Post on Satuday said it will strive to ensure “objective coverage” of the communist country in contrast to the “tainted” coverage by the western media.

“At the core of a news property, we have to have the readers’ trust. That will depend on reporting that is objective, balanced and fair,” Joseph Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group that has become the first Chinese company to own an independent media, told the Post.

Outlining how the multi-billion dollar firm owned by tycoon Jack Ma will handle the 112-year-old newspaper known in the past for critical coverage of China, Tsai said: “If we don’t have that trust, we cannot build up our readership.

“Even though we are the corporate owner, we will let the editors decide the editorial policy and direction of coverage for any story. That's our basic principle.”

The Post group has been bought over by Alibaba for an undisclosed amount.

Asked how Alibaba founder Ma, who is well connected to officials in China and the company which is based in Chinese mainland, will avoid conflict between editorial independence and the business interests of the group, Tsai said: “there are going to be situations when sensitive topics are being covered”. “But we think coverage should be objective, balanced and fair.”