Ma's million US jobs pledge more PR than substance, say analysts

Beijing

ALIBABA founder Jack Ma and US President-elect Donald Trump made headlines with the Chinese entrepreneur's attention-grabbing pledge to create one million US jobs, but analysts say the move is more about generating good PR than substance.

The splashy promise from Trump Tower was a strategic decision by Mr Ma to win goodwill from the next US president and hedge against political risks to Alibaba's vast online shopping business over counterfeits, independent e-commerce analyst Li Chengdong told AFP.

"We don't have to take the one million job promise too seriously," Mr Li said.

In the short term, economists are sceptical as such a figure would represent almost one per cent of all jobs in the United States, making the firm one of the cou…