You may have heard of the 996 work culture in China, where employees work from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm for six days a week.

Now, get ready for 669.

Advice to married employees

Alibaba founder Jack Ma gave a speech at the company's 15th annual 'Ali Day' on May 10.

Ma reportedly commented that employees should have the 996 spirit at work, but married couples should follow '669' in their personal life.

According to Shanghaiist, Ma said that 669 meant "six days, six times", implying that his married employees should have sex six times in six days.

Capitalising on a pun where the Chinese pronunciation of 'nine' also means 'long', Ma also suggested that there should be an emphasis on how long each session lasts.

This message was subsequently uploaded to the company's Weibo account:

The caption reads (translated):

"In life, we need 669. What is 669? Six days, six times, with an emphasis on 'duration'."

Encouraged employees to have kids

According to Yahoo Finance, Ma also encouraged his employees to have children during his speech.

Talking about the "KPI of marriage", he said that couples should have "results" in the form of having children.

He said:

"Marriage is not for the purpose of accumulating wealth, not for buying a house, not for buying a car, but for having a baby together. 

Always remember that 'everything could be others', could be fake. Only the child is the real thing. Have more children!”

Although China is one of the most populous countries in the world, its birth rate has been plummeting, with new births in China falling to 15.23 million in 2018, SCMP reported.

The birth rate of 10.94 every 1,000 people in 2018 was also the the lowest official birth rate recorded in China since 1961.

Top photo via YouTube screengrab.

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