| He'd all but vanished from the public eye after a speech criticizing China's regulators back in 2020, but this week Alibaba's billionaire founder Jack Ma was back in the limelight, showing up at a school in his hometown Hangzhou. The sudden reappearance was the prelude to a major overhaul at Alibaba, essentially splitting it into six business units. The move promises to yield several initial public offerings, although CEO Daniel Zhang remained quiet when asked about a timeline. It looks like the $20 billion logistics arm Cainiao could be the first to list, according to people familiar with the matter. Alibaba's shares have soared.  Mascots for Alibaba's various platforms at a shopping mall in Hangzhou. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg Ma's return coincides with President Xi Jinping's renewed focus on growth, as Beijing is keen to project a business-friendly image after regulatory crackdowns and punishing Covid rules battered the economy. That message was reinforced not once, but twice, this week by Premier Li Qiang who said China will be a force for prosperity in the world during his keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia. He called China an "anchor for world peace," adding Beijing has the "confidence and ability to sail the giant ship of the Chinese economy steadily ahead against all winds and waves."  A screen showing Li Qiang at the Boao Forum for Asia on March 30. Photographer: STR/AFP It echoed his comments delivered to international executives at the China Development Forum earlier in the week, when Li said the country will "unswervingly stick to opening up" and create a "broad space" for foreign businesses to develop in the Asian nation. While some investors are certainly seeing positive signs around Alibaba's restructuring — Chinese tech shares rallied in Hong Kong this week — it could still take some time to convince foreign startup cash to return. There was a homecoming too, of sorts, for former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou. In the first tour by an ex-leader of the self-ruled island to China, Ma has made visits to Nanjing and Wuhan. He's also expected to head to his family's ancestral hometown in the central province of Hunan.  Ma Ying-jeou at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing on March 28. Source: -/AFP But Ma's tour has been somewhat eclipsed by Taiwan's current leader's itinerary. Tsai Ing-wen said the security of the world hinges on the island's fate, during a US stopover on a trip that may further escalate tensions between Washington and Beijing. She's set to meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in LA next week. "We resolutely oppose this and will definitely take measures to respond," Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular press briefing in Beijing, when asked about the potential meeting. Tsai's movements are unlikely to help President Biden's efforts to put a floor under the rapidly deteriorating relationship. "The Chinese have been reluctant to engage in discussions around confidence-building," Biden's top Asia adviser said Thursday. US-China ties plummeted in February when the US shot down a Chinese balloon it accused of spying. China has since rebuffed US efforts to set up a phone call between the two presidents. In a further sign of the current state of affairs, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with China's top diplomat Wang Yi last week, according to sources, but neither side opted to publicize the call. Given the tension surrounding Tsai's trip, it could take some time yet before that confidence-building begins. Each weekday, The Big Take podcast brings you one story — one big, important story from Bloomberg's global newsroom. Subscribe and listen on iHeart, Apple and Spotify. Finally, a few other stories that caught our attention: -
One year later, Shanghai remains scarred by its chaotic Covid lockdown -
China's biggest consumer brands are still cautious about a recovery -
The frantic scrambling behind the scenes after the Shanghai bourse called off a hearing for what would have been the biggest IPO this year -
China's taking the green push to the next level — the rooftop -
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried charged with bribing Chinese officials -
How China has helped Indonesia turn the world's largest nickel reserves into a lucrative source for electric-car batteries | 
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