Alibaba is investing $130 million in the youth of Hong Kong

In an effort to acquire more sellers for its main shopping websites, Alibaba has created a $130 million non-profit organization that will help young men and women in Hong Kong who want to start their own business. This move could also serve to boost the company’s reputation in Hong Kong and exploit the growing frustration over the city’s economic policies. 

Alibaba announced today that it has created a $130 million non-profit organization to help young people who want to start businesses on the e-commerce giant’s online marketplaces. Called the Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation, the group may benefit Alibaba in two ways. For one, it can get more sellers onto Taobao Marketplace and Tmall, its main shopping sites. The foundation could also potentially boost Alibaba’s reputation in Hong Kong, where students and young workers have been frustrated by economic policies that they believe favor tourists and immigrants from mainland China. Concern over soaring real estate prices and job competition fueled last fall’s Occupy Central movement by pro-democracy supporters.