Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai said Tuesday that the tech giant will resume hiring, following a February meeting of business leaders with President Xi Jinping.
He has expressed concern about some very large announcements of investments in artificial intelligence in the US.
Tsai has praised the rare meeting between Xi and big names in Chinese technology, including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, which resulted in a noticeable softening of Beijing's approach to the sector.
He noted that Alibaba's employee count had been falling for the past 12 quarters.
"So I think we've reached the bottom and we're going to start rehiring," he said.
China's economy has been hit by weak growth in recent years, also hampered by a debt crisis in the real estate sector, leading to job insecurity and high unemployment for the country's youth.
"Employment, however, would lead to good things. Employment gives people job security and income growth that will translate from business confidence to consumer confidence," Tsai added.
