Did Karl Marx turn in his grave? Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma is a member of China’s Communist Party!

Beijing, Nov 28: It is often said that China, despite its communist political system, has adopted a socialist market economy - quite an oxymoron. And the country's unique politic-economic system's identity was confirmed yet again recently when an informed source revealed that Jack Ma, co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is a member of China's Communist Party since the 1980s!

According to a CNBC report, the source which confirmed this sought anonymity since it is not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

On Monday, November 26, a report by People's Daily released a list of people that the Communist Party wants to honour for "their contributions to the reform and opening up" and Ma, one of the richest man on earth, featured in it. Questions were also raised as to when he had joined the party - the only one in China's monolithic political system.

Though there were talks as early as 2015 about Ma's membership of the Communist Party, it did not get much of international attention. The news was confirmed this week again and it created quite a buzz, given the irony that is associated with it - the richest man in China being a member of the party which ideologically is anti-capitalist.

The Chinese media on Tuesday, November 27, cited a source claiming to be a former classmate of Ma saying in a social media post that they had joined the party during their university days.

"We all joined the party around the second or third year of university. Back then, joining the party meant not just that you were a good student, but also that you had integrity, organizational ability, enthusiasm and idealism," the post said, according to a translation that matched a screenshot of the post, said the CNBC report.

Alibaba reportedly declined to comment on the matter.