Screenshot shows Chinese actress Vicky Zhao at the Global Conference on Women and Entrepreneurship held by Alibaba Group in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, 20 May 2015..
An international women' s conference organized by Alibaba Group opened on Wednesday in east China's Hangzhou City, for businesswomen to share their entrepreneurial experience.
During his speech, Alibaba' s founder Jack Ma said, the internet age has provided women with unprecedented opportunities in business.
The internet economy is about user experience. Comparing men who are more interested in exploring the outside world, to women who are better at looking inward, women can get in closer touch with customers' hearts, he said.
Over 50 percent of the online shop owners registered on Alibaba's taobao.com are women. Female shop owners generally have better credibility than their male counterparts.
Ma said that Alibaba also owes its success to its women employees. "About 49 percent of our employees are women and 34 percent of top managers are female," he said.
"Women will be the future leaders of the world," Ma said, "and those who can be better adapted to changes will be the future winners. Women have more flexibility than men."
Talking about the advantages women have in starting their own business, Ma said, women are more loyal in careers; they are more resilient when facing setbacks; they are more considerate and know better the art of balance, for they have been striving for a balance between family and work.
Ma's opinion was echoed by Liu Qing, president of the popular taxi-hailing company Didi Dache. She said, the cultures of the companies with female managers usually value balance, harmony and tolerance. Women tend to be more sensitive than men, and that sensitivity can help a female manager to better lead her team, she said.
When sharing her success experience, Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, provided her tips for women aspiring for successful businesses.
Female entrepreneurs should persevere, be fearless to risk and fail, and always spare time to look inward and explore their own intuition and wisdom, she said.
According to Alibaba, the event has attracted some 800 female participants from around the world. Alibaba is considering making it a regular event.
