Alibaba spends millions of dollars on U.S. lobbying and Democratic campaigns

A report on Alibaba Group, one of China's largest companies, reveals that the company has spent millions of dollars on lobbying and donating to political campaigns, leaning mostly toward the Democratic Party.

According to a recent report by OpenSecrets, an organization that tracks money spent for political purposes, Alibaba has been lobbying heavily in the United States. Further, since the 2014 midterm elections, the Chinese giant has been leaning left.

The data reveals that the company has given millions of dollars in donations to members of Congress and various government departments focused on U.S.-China trade, finance and technologies.

In fact, the report indicated that, during the 2020 presidential election, the Chinese giant spent more than $2.5 million on lobbying. Last year, the Democratic National Committee received more than $135,000 in donations from Alibaba through its employees, immediate family and other related sources.

The Chinese company itself "did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate family members," the report stated.

Alibaba's most influential lobbying firm

According to the disclosed information, Mercury is the primary firm used by Alibaba to lobby the White House on policy issues such as technology, U.S. capital markets, " issues related to e-commerce, and small- and medium-sized enterprise export promotion."

A curious fact is that Mercury's top management has many ties to the Democratic Party, including the company's Senior Vice President Ashley Bauman, who worked in the past as a communications advisor to the Democratic National Committee. There is also company Vice President Greg Drilling, who was part of Andrew Cuomo's team, and Washington office Co-Chair Cheri Bustos, who was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaigns Committee.