Is anybody surprised that Alibaba founder Jack Ma is a China Communist Party member?

No, except for people that don ‘t know how CCP works. CCP is not a just political parti, it is the administrative layer of China - including business and many other things.

Passed a certain point, being a party member is the only way to get into next level meetings in China. Being CCP member is a life and death commitment. There is no way out so other members can trust you. Even if he didn ‘t want, he did not have much choice.

A more interesting question is why it gets publicised now.

This text was originally published in quora.