The island republic is a country which belongs to the 'top tier', said the founder and chief executive of Alibaba Group, one of the world's biggest business-to-business (B2B) online companies.

'Singapore really understands the global vision. I have been listening to the speeches of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew several times. He is a real visionary,' Mr Ma told Singapore journalists after hosting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at his company headquarters here.

'I met the last prime minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, and now this prime minister. I think you have great leadership in Government.'

Mr Ma, 44, who was recently voted by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people, had earlier given PM Lee a tour of his company.

The Singapore leader arrived in Hangzhou on Thursday for a four-day visit to the Yangtze River Delta.

In his presentation, the pint-sized Mr Ma, a former English teacher, told Mr Lee in fluent English that Singapore is the 'spiritual' base of Alibaba. That is because he hit on the idea of an Asian model for e-commerce during a conference in Singapore a decade ago.

But more than that, the country remains important to the Hong Kong-listed company.

'From a business point of view, Singapore is also critical to Alibaba.com because Singapore is our investment hub, marketing hub and sales hub for global expansion,' said Mr David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com, the world's largest online B2B e-commerce site run by the group.

The Alibaba Group has over 50 staff members based in Singapore.

'Our investments made in Taiwan, Japan and India are all through our office in Singapore. All our global sales are consolidated in our Singapore office,' said Mr Wei.

Asked by PM Lee who might 'take your lunch', Mr Ma, who was born here in Hangzhou, replied that he does not worry about competitors.

It is not entirely hyperbole. One of Mr Ma's biggest coups was slaying international online auction giant eBay, which folded its operations in China after losing out to Alibaba's Taobao, which now controls 90 per cent of all online auctions sales in China.

Yesterday, PM Lee also opened the Singapore-Hangzhou Science and Technology Park, cementing Singapore's foothold in park developments in the Yangtze River Delta.

The Hangzhou park, which is being developed by Ascendas, is a S$700 million project with offices, retail spaces, recreational facilities and a massive lake in the middle.

The project in the heart of the scenic Hangzhou city, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, is the third officiated by top Singapore leaders in the last week.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng witnessed the ground-breaking of two parks built by Singapore companies - the Singapore-Nanjing Eco High-Tech Island and the Suzhou-Nantong High Tech Park. The two parks are in Jiangsu province, which is adjacent to Zhejiang province.

Mr Lee, who was joined by Second Minister for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua yesterday, also visited the Yue Fei Mausoleum by the West Lake, and met Zhejiang entrepreneurs over dinner.

He leaves today for Ningbo city, the second stop of his trip which will also take him to Shanghai.

-end of ST article