Jack Ma made his first public appearance in three months.

Fears that Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) was missing were laid to rest after he participated in the online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event today, January 20. (INDEPENDENT)

Ma back in public view

Ma appeared in a live-streamed video and spoke briefly during the annual event. It is a tradition in honor of teachers in rural China.

He speaks directly to the camera, saying to the teachers “after COVID-19, we’ll meet each other again.”

News portal Tianmu News first reported Ma’s online meeting.

The Jack Ma Foundation confirmed to Reuters that Ma participated in the online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event on Wednesday. The Alibaba Group also verified this.

“We cannot meet in Sanya due to the epidemic. When the epidemic is over, we must find time to make up for everyone’s trip to Sanya, and then we will meet again!” Ma said.

Another report by the Economic Times quotes Ma as saying at the event:  “Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to devote ourselves to education philanthropy,” Ma said in the video, which was first posted online by a local blog. “Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility for our generation of businessmen.”

Alibaba shares spike on Ma’s reappearance

The news of Ma’s reappearance in public allayed fears regarding his fate. He had criticized China’s regulatory processes at a forum in Shanghai in late October.

The bureaucratic whiplash, supposedly backed by Chinese President Xi himself, led to a suspension of Jack Ma-controlled Ant Group’s giant IPO worth $35 billion. Regulators then ordered Ant to overhaul its business and began an antitrust investigation of Alibaba.

With Ma back, and apparently safe and sound, shares in Alibaba Group surged higher by 8.52%. In New York, as this is being written, shares are up 5.54% to $265.58.

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