Alibaba is the force behind hit Chinese Communist Party app: sources
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS FEBRUARY 18, 2019 / 6:10 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Alibaba is the force behind hit Chinese Communist Party app: sources
Pei Li, Cate Cadell
4 MIN READ
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese government propaganda app that recently became a huge hit was developed by Alibaba, two people at the company told Reuters, at a time when the nations tech firms are under global scrutiny over their ties to Beijing.
Xuexi Qiangguo, which literally translates as Study to make China strong and is a play on the government propaganda theme of applying President Xi Jinpings thoughts, overtook Tik Tok and WeChat to become the countys most popular app on Apples China app store last week.
It was developed by a largely unknown special projects team at Alibaba known as the Y Projects Business Unit, which takes on development projects outside the company, said the people.
New York-listed Alibaba declined to comment on whether the business unit had developed the app.
The apps development by Alibaba, whose Chairman Jack Ma is a member of the Communist Party, is the latest example of a Chinese tech company collaborating with the government.
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