NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 29, 2015: (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images)

Chinese Government Has A Huge "Stake" In Alibaba

It is common knowledge that the Chinese government is obsessed with changing global perceptions that it’s a mostly “closed” economy which makes foreign competition in that country almost impossible for many global brand names.

It is no secret that they are absolutely focused on seeing that the Yuan becomes as global a currency as the greenback is. Just as their obsession with America and trying to one-up us in every manner, this article highlights how Alibaba has received special treatment from the Chinese government which has helped establish the company with a global brand name which is growing rapidly.

Case in point, Google GOOGL +0.29%, Facebook FB +2.06%, Twitter TWTR +6.45% et al.  Each one of these companies were effectively prohibited by the government from effective operations in China either through selective discrimination by the Chinese authorities or through direct privacy violations demanded by the authorities there.

The Chinese authorities have not outright banned U.S. companies from operating in China but the bureaucrats in that country sure make life a living hell for our company operating in that country.

Google left the country rather than provide access to user data on demand to the Chinese authorities.

The government of China does not allow its citizens to legally (many do using VPNs) check Facebook pages, send tweets (Twitter), nor are they allowed to access Google’s Youtube service.

Just on Friday, Alibaba announced that it was buying the 75% stake in Youku Tudou that it does not own for around $26-$27 per ADS.  What does Youku do you ask?  It’s a YouTube imitation site that runs videos, clips, etc just like YouTube does. Of course, the Chinese government has no issues with its citizens accessing Youku content.