Alibaba denies contributing to Hillary Clinton’s campaign

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Monday dismissed speculation that its cooperation with a U.S. foundation named for former U.S. president Bill Clinton was linked with financial support for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Alibaba's contributions to the Clinton Foundation dated back to a $250,000 donation to international AIDS care and treatment in 2005, Alibaba said on its official Sina Weibo account on Monday.

Alibaba stopped contributing donations to the foundation in 2012, the company said, stressing that it boasts a specialized team to ensure that the foundation's work advanced Alibaba's goals.

The Clinton Foundation, a non-governmental organization, was established in 1997 during Bill Clinton's second presidential term. It aims to resolve issues related to global health and wellness, climate change, and girls and women's rights.

Donations to the Clinton Foundation have come from a broad range of national governments and transnational companies, thepaper.cn reported.

Some online reports linked Clinton Foundation donors to contributions to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, particularly pointing out the contributions of Chinese companies including Alibaba, Fosun Group - one of the largest holding companies in China - and Minsheng Banking Corp.

The foundation's donations records show that Chinese companies including Alibaba gave less than $1 million, while many foreign companies gave donations of about $5 million, thepaper.cn reported.

Alibaba also dismissed speculation about its involvement in the former secretary of state's e-mail controversy, explaining that the foundation began to make its donation records open to the public in 2008. The use of Alibaba's funds was strictly supervised and was absolutely restricted to charitable actions, said thepaper.cn.

Hillary Clinton left the board of the Clinton Foundation when she launched her latest presidential bid in April 2015, amid conflict of interest concerns, AFP reported.