Nov 26, 2018

Alibaba's Jack Ma identified as member of China's Communist Party

Xi greets Ma at an event. Photo: Ted S. Warren/Getty Images

Jack Ma, the c0-founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, was identified by the People's Daily, China's state-run media outlet, as a member of the Communist Party. His name appeared on a list honoring people working to modernize the Chinese economy, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The backdrop: Ma has long kept a distance from Chinese politics. He once said companies' relationship with Beijing should be, "Love them, don’t marry them." But as the Communist Party gains influence under President Xi Jinping, it is seeking to publicly link itself to China's most powerful names.

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Axios

Coronavirus updates: Market ends worst week since financial crisis

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

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California coronavirus: Latest case has no recent history of international travel

Gov. Gavin Newsom. Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

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What's new: An adult woman with chronic health conditions in Santa Clara County who "did not recently travel overseas" or come into contact with anyone known to be ill was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus on Friday by CDC and California Department of Public Health officials.

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Big video game conference delayed amid coronavirus concerns

Photo: GDC

Next month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco became the latest tech event to be cancelled or postponed amid growing concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The big picture: A growing number of events are being scrapped, including Mobile World Congress and Facebook's F8 developer conference. Some, like the giant SXSW event in Austin, insist they are moving forward.

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