(Yicai) Aug. 24 -- Jack Ma, who founded Chinese e-commerce and fintech giants Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Group, said “imagination” is the key to agriculture and rural education, two fields he has been involved with since retiring.

“No matter what’s involved, I found that the places doing well in agriculture are not necessarily good in resources, but instead they usually have people with unique thinking and imagination,” Ma said in a video shared by the Jack Ma Foundation yesterday.

Ma also said that learning about farming made him realize that more attention needs to be paid to children's imagination and unique thinking when it comes to rural education.

His philanthropic foundation focuses on education, environmental protection, medical care, and entrepreneurship, with education one of the main focal points since Ma retired in 2019.

Last year, Ma joined the University of Tokyo and the Tel Aviv University as a visiting professor. He also became an honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong and a visiting professor at the African Leadership University this year.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione