Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma on the Power of American Ideas

Nov. 15, 2010— -- In a country that still restricts the flow of information, one Chinese man has made a fortune by harnessing the power of that vast information source, the Internet.

Jack Ma, 46, is the founder of of Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce website. It has made him a billionaire and changed the way that the Chinese do business.

ABC's Diane Sawyer spoke to Ma today in Hangzhou, China about his work, China's remarkable growth, and the American ideals that he believes have made it possible.

"I think this is the American dreams that make America different," Ma told Sawyer. "Today, Chinese people have the dreams. ... Many years ago, we would wait for the government, now we don't wait for the government."

Some analysts expect Alibaba to generate over $700 million in revenue this year from its websites, including the business-to-business trading Alibaba.com and the online auction site Taobao.com. Alibaba, which is 40 percent owned by Yahoo!, also operates the China Yahoo! web portal.

By way of comparison, Facebook reportedly generated some $800 million in revenue in 2009.

Ma was born in Hangzhou, now the home base for Alibaba and its 22,000 employees. He started learning English at age 12, and he didn't learn about the Internet until he visited the United States as an adult on a trade delegation in 1995. Realizing the potential, he returned to China to create China Pages that same year, one of the first Chinese Internet companies.

Ma said he believes that American ingenuity is a model for the Chinese.

"Innovation is a culture. When I see the American culture, the American culture is very innovative," Ma said. "To have a culture of innovation takes about two or three generations."

China has certainly been quick to seize on the idea of entrepreneurship. Ma believes that the future of China is rooted in the success of small businesses and American ingenuity, but he also sees value in China's decisiveness.

"When I go there [to America], they are building up a road, and they discuss for two or three years without deciding," Ma said. "But China? Well, let's make it happen. ... I look at many of the nations moving so slowly. China, at least we move fast. Make a decision quick, and we have the culture of doing that."