Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, has announced a major restructure dividing the company into six units. This follows news that co-founder Jack Ma has returned to China after spending over a year overseas, reportedly at the communist party’s request. Beijing’s policy towards large privately-owned Chinese tech firms remains unchanged despite the regulatory scrutiny which led to Ma’s withdrawal from public events. Ma’s return coincided with the announcement of Alibaba’s revamp, which will see each unit having its own board of directors and CEO, with the Alibaba Group implementing full holding company management. Recent reports suggest that the CCP authorities pressured Ma to return to China in an attempt to boost confidence in China’s declining economy, particularly among private enterprise, despite the state’s suppression of private sectors across many industries in recent years.