Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba is obviously pulling out all the stops to convince the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to clear the way for its IPO by bending the rules.

Shortly after the company's CEO Jonathan Lu blasted the Hong Kong authorities for their lack of knowledge about Internet enterprises, his boss, chairman Jack Ma, invited a group of Hong Kong reporters from various media to Alibaba's headquarters in scenic Hangzhou to make a personal plea.

From the reports of that meeting, it was clear that Ma didn't break any new ground. Instead, he was seen to be harping the same theme that his company is special and therefore it should be treated differently.