Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, speaks at the launching ceremony of the Alibaba Poverty Relief Fund in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on Dec 1, 2017. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba, announced that Alibaba plans to spend 10 billion yuan ($1.51 billion) on poverty alleviation in the next five years, at the launching ceremony of the Alibaba Poverty Relief Fund in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on Friday.

Every penny of the fund is raised by the company, said Ma. "We welcome other companies' contributions of time, butnot money."

The poverty relief course will be carried out as part of the strategic business of Alibaba.

Jack Ma and other Alibaba partners pose for a group photo at the launching ceremony of the Alibaba Poverty Relief Fund in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on Dec 1, 2017.[Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]