Spokesman says Putin not stepping down

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin told Chinese business magnate Jack Ma, the co-founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group, that he is not going to retire, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel, TASS reports.

Recalling Putin’s meeting with businessmen at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s Vladivostok earlier in September, Peskov said that Putin had asked whether the Chinese businessman was really planning to step down. "The entire world mooted the news that Jack Ma was planning to retire and, naturally, Putin asked Jack Ma: "Are you really going to retire, with your energy?", Peskov recounted Putin’s words. "It was said by the president, who is 65, but as he told Jack Ma: 'I am not going to step down. I have no such plans.'"

The New York Times said earlier that Jack Ma was planning to step down from his role in his company from September 10, when he turned 54. His competences are expected to go over to Director General Daniel Zhang.