Technology 
Alibaba to bet big on small merchants for Singles Day with RMB 2 billion subsidies Credit: Alibaba
Alibaba founder Jack Ma said the company faces being overtaken as “expected” in a rare internal memo on Tuesday, at a time when the Taobao maker celebrated its 25th anniversary. “There is no company that can remain No.1 forever in any field, with competition is the only way to make yourself stronger and the industry healthier,” Ma wrote. The anniversary day also marks the e-commerce giant’s first day that investors from mainland China can directly buy its Hong Kong-listed stocks, ending with Alibaba shares up 4.2% on Tuesday trading. In the nearly 1,000-word piece of writing, the currently low-profile entrepreneur listed several socially valuable tasks the company made, namely “helping countless young people start their own businesses,” “creating tree-planting initiative Ant Forest”, as well as “building health code system during Covid period,” which he felt proud of that Alibaba participates in “moving society forward.” [LatePost, in Chinese]
