Jack Ma is a man who has his hands in everything.

Not only does he sing, dance, kick other martial arts stars' asses using tai chi, and teach others to be as successful as he is, he's now also a coffee connoisseur.

Well, coffee from Starbucks that is.

Ma praises Starbucks to the skies

Ma showed up at the 30,000 square feet Starbucks Reserve Roastery Shanghai and sang the praises of the Seattle café turned global brand.

This particular Shanghai branch is also now the world's largest Starbucks.

Speaking entirely in English, Ma explained that the coffee chain owes its success in the country due to its understanding of the Chinese people and the Chinese market, along with making its coffee with abstract ingredients like "heart", "love", and "passion".

He also said that Starbucks has transformed China, a country that drinks tea.

"Starbucks is a great company. Honestly, this is a company that we Alibaba respect a lot. As I said, everybody drinks coffee. But nobody (thought that) you could sell coffee like this!"

He also said to roaring laughter from the crowd:

"I don't like coffee, but I like Starbucks."

Alibaba-Starbucks partnerships

Ma's praises for Starbucks is obviously influenced by the various partnerships with Starbucks that his e-commerce and tech conglomerate Alibaba has entered into.

For the Shanghai Roastery, Alibaba is providing the technology to create the "first fully immersive coffee experience in Asia" via augmented reality (AR).

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You can watch his opening speech at the world's largest Starbucks here:

[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2017/12/jackma-starbucks.mp4"][/video]

Top image via Miaopai

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