Jack¹ Ma, the billionaire founder² of Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, is poised³ to expand his media holdings as his online finance company eyes a stake in Caixin, the business magazine.

中国电子商务集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的亿万富翁创始人马云(Jack Ma)正准备扩大他的媒体版图，他旗下的在线金融公司正考虑入股财经杂志——财新传媒。

Two people close to Caixin said discussions were under way for Ant Financial, the payments, banking⁴ and asset management affiliate⁵ of US-listed Alibaba, to buy an undisclosed holding.

据两名接近财新的人士透露，蚂蚁金服(Ant Financial)——在美国上市的阿里巴巴的支付、银行业务和资产管理附属公司——正在谈判入股事宜，具体股份比例不详。

If successful it would be the second recent media investment by Mr Ma’s companies, following Alibaba’s December purchase of South China Morning Post for $266m.

如果成功的话，这将是马云旗下的公司近期第二笔媒体投资，此前阿里巴巴在去年12月斥资2.66亿美元收购了《南华早报》(SCMP)。

Caixin said yesterday it was poised to complete talks with a group of unnamed investors⁷. The stake sale would not interfere⁸ with its independence, it added.

财新传媒昨日表示，即将与一群名称不详的投资者完成谈判。它补充说，出售股权不会影响它的独立性。

“The new stakeholders will respect Caixin’s editorial independence, as our past stakeholders have done, and accept our internal firewall and compliance⁹ management arrangements, which will safeguard our credibility.”

“新的投资者与原有股东一样，尊重财新传媒不受股东商业利益左右的编辑独立原则，也认可内部防火墙、合规管理等制度安排，以保障财新传媒的公信力。”

Caixin said a funding round in 2012 — when Tencent, a rival of Alibaba’s, and China Media Capital, a Shanghai-based fund, took stakes — had not affected¹⁰ its commitment to objectivity.

财新传媒指出，2012年进行的一轮融资——当时阿里巴巴的竞争对手腾讯(Tencent)和总部位于上海的华人文化产业投资基金(China Media Capital)购得股份——并没有影响其对客观性的承诺。

According to a person close to the talks, Alibaba has been given a seat on Caixin’s board. Ant Financial declined to comment.

接近谈判的一名人士透露，阿里巴巴已获得财新传媒董事会的一个席位。蚂蚁金服不予置评。

The investment is likely to be scrutinised for any hint¹¹ that Mr Ma, who has majority control of Ant Financial, is trying to buy influence or offer political favours for the Chinese government.

这笔投资很可能会受到密切关注，看有没有任何迹象表明：拥有蚂蚁金服多数控制权的马云，正试图为中国政府购买影响力或者在政治上出力。

In last year’s purchase of South China Morning Post, Alibaba was accused of seeking to interfere editorially after Joe Tsai, its executive vice-chairman, said the newspaper could be an alternative to western coverage¹² of China, which he described as negative and biased¹³.

在去年收购《南华早报》时，阿里巴巴被指试图干涉编审独立，原因是其执行副主席蔡崇信(Joe Tsai)表示，该报可能成为他所称的西方媒体对中国负面和偏见报道的替代品。

Caixin’s fierce independence is attributed to Hu Shuli, its chief editor and one of China’s most respected journalists, who founded the magazine in 1998. In 2011 she had an online argument with Mr Ma after he was accused of breaching¹⁴ corporate¹⁵ governance rules.

财新传媒对独立性的坚决维护归功于其总编辑胡舒立，她是中国最受尊敬的新闻工作者之一，在1998年创办《财经》杂志。2011年，她曾在网上与马云展开争论，此前马云被指违反公司治理规则。

Alibaba and its affiliates¹⁶ have moved aggressively into the media sector¹⁷. Alibaba is also an investor⁶ in Watching, a news website launched last March, and Seec Media . It co-owns iTianxia Web-Commerce, a trade publication focused on online retail¹⁸.

阿里巴巴及其附属公司近来大举进军媒体行业。阿里巴巴还是去年3月开通的新闻网站“无界新闻”(Watching)、以及财讯传媒(Seec Media)的投资者。该集团还部分拥有聚焦网上零售的行业刊物《iTianxia WebCommerce》。

Ant Financial is being prepared for an initial public offering in China, though the company refuses to say when.

蚂蚁金服正准备在中国进行首次公开发行(IPO)，但该公司拒绝透露具体日程。