The hashtag “Alipay Changes Name” (#支付宝更名#) appeared on Weibo Tuesday and has been viewed nearly 2 million times, with some Chinese media outlets sharing reports that the e-wallet is now called Hanbao(瀚宝).

The name change was reportedly registered for the ‘Zhifubao (China) Information Technology Company’ (支付宝[中国]信息技术有限公司), that changed into ‘Hanbao (Shanghai) Information Technology Company’ (瀚宝[上海]信息技术有限公司), just as ‘Alipay China Holding Limited’ has been changed to ‘Hanbao China Holding Limited.’

© Image | Weibo@凤凰网财经

The fact that the ‘Hanbao’ name is pronounced the same way as ‘Hamburger’ (汉堡) in Mandarin is also a reason some people are mocking the name change. Some netizens wonder if ‘Alipay’ will now change into ‘Hanbaopay.’ 

Explained by Alipay official

© Image | Weibo

 

But Alipay, which was founded by Alibaba Group, clarified later in the day that “recent renaming of certain subsidiaries under Ant Financial is part of a routine organizational review,” and that Alipay itself wasn’t getting a makeover.

 

“But every change causes outsiders to mistakenly think that there have been major changes,” Alipay said.

Jack Ma is no longer 

a shareholder of Taobao

© Image | 视觉中国

 

Alibaba founder Jack Ma is no longer a shareholder of Zhejiang Taobao Network Co. Ltd., Taobao’s corporate entity, company records show.

© Image | 天眼查

Ma, who announced his impending retirement last year, was previously one of the only two shareholders of the corporate entity of Taobao – China’s biggest online retail platform owned by Alibaba Group. 

 

The entity’s shares are now controlled entirely by a single corporation owned by five other members of Alibaba’s current management team: 

• Daniel Zhang, 

• Zhao Ying, 

• Zheng Junfang, 

• Tong Wenhong, 

• Shao Xiaofeng. 

The five, who now each hold 20% of Taobao Network’s shares, are also current members of the Alibaba Partnership, a committee of 36 people at Alibaba who have de facto control of the internet giant’s board.

This change was also played down by Alibaba Group, which said it was a “very common and normal practice in the company’s management, technically and legally speaking.”

Similar cases of MacDonald’s China

In 2017, there was also some online commotion when it was announced that McDonald’s China would change its name from Maidanglao to Jin Gongmen(‘Golden Arches’). At the time, McDonald’s China also responded to its name change, saying that it was for “official certification” only.

 McDonald’s China Changes Name to ‘Golden Arches’!

 Crazy! New McDonald’s Deal Caused Storms In China!

 

© Image | GOOGLE

Time has shown that indeed nothing changed; just as the McDonald’s hamburgers are still the same, Alipay’s official hamburger-sounding new name is unlikely to affect its payment convenience.