Alibaba's Ma says no chance of U.S. trade war with China

Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma, attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - China and the United States are not about to be drawn into a trade war, Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma said on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

"China and (the) U.S. will never have a trade war. Give Trump some time. He's open minded," Ma told a panel at the meeting of business and political leaders in the Swiss Alps.

Ma met U.S. President-elect Donald Trump last week and laid out the Chinese e-commerce giant's new plan to bring one million small U.S. businesses onto its platform to sell to Chinese consumers over the next five years.

(Writing by Alexander Smith; Editing by David Goodman)