Daniel Zhang’s nickname at Alibaba translates to “free and unfettered”. It will apply more accurately next year to founder Jack Ma. He will be at liberty to pursue “lots of dreams” after handing the chairmanship of the $420bn group to Mr Zhang.

Mr Zhang, a long-term executive, must reassure shareholders that prospects are solid and a strategy of accumulating stakes in other businesses makes sense. A valuation of fifty times last year’s earnings suggests investors expect further explosive growth. But the shares are lower than they were a year ago.

Businesses with margins as high as Alibaba’s are hard to find. Slick domestic competitors, such as JD.com and Tencent, are encroaching on its core business. The group’s share of Chinese ecommerce will drop to about 50 per cent next year from more than 80 per cent five years ago, forecasts research group eMarketer. Diversification into cloud services, media and urban transport may not offer the same high profit margins, given intense competition.