Co-president of Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group asserted his confidence in the domestic market, despite recent indicators that the world’s largest consumer market is settling into a prolonged economic slowdown, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“This is a market that requires patience,” said J. Michael Evans in a presentation in New York. “But if you think about where the country is going in the long-term…the future I think looks very good, notwithstanding some troubling headwinds.”
Recent pressure has led some retail leaders such as Apple and Jaguar to cut their sales forecasts based on weaker Chinese demand. Alibaba also lowered its expected 2018 revenue by up to 6%, citing sluggish smartphone sales and US trade tensions.
“China has slowed down,” said Evans. “As a $13 trillion economy, it would be quite unusual if it could continue to grow at 7% or 8%.”