Alibaba top taxpayer among Internet firms

A cyclist rides past a signboard of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, June 25, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Alibaba Group Holding has become China's highest tax-paying Internet firm, handing in paying 10.9 billion yuan ($1.76 billion) in taxes last year, said a local official on Monday.

Li Qiang, governor of Zhejiang province, where Alibaba Group is based, said that the Internet giant had made "a huge contribution to tax revenues last year, paying almost 30 million yuan on an average per day"."

The total tax Alibaba paid rose 56.4 percent in 2014 from 7 billion yuan in 2013.

Revenue at the world's largest e-commerce platform rose 40 percent to 26.18 billion yuan in the fourth quarter last year, according to the company's earnings report.

Its shares edged up 0.4 percent and closed at $82.2 on Monday.

Top of the league

Jack Ma Yun, executive chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, was listed as the fourth wealthiest Chinese, with a total net asset of $22.7 billion, according to a ranking compiled by Forbes China released on Sunday.

According to the list, Hong Kong tycoons Li Ka-shing of Cheung Kong Group and Lee Shau Kee of Henderson Land Development were ranked the top and the second richest Chinese, followed by Wanda Group's Wang Jianlin.

BAT CEOs, Pony Ma Huateng of Tecent, Robin Li Yanhong of Baidu, together with Ma Yun, were all on the top 10 list, with the first two ranked as the sixth and eighth wealthiest Chinese.