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    'Just borrow,' Jack Ma told China's youth — then came the bill

    by Alice Su, Los Angeles Times Mar 10, 2021 6 minutes

    HANGZHOU, China — Billionaire Jack Ma has long cast himself as a freewheeling champion of young people and small businesses — the "ants" of China — offering them quick online loans so they can realize the lives they want.

    "You're young; just spend," said the ads for Huabei, a credit card-like feature on Ma's financial app Alipay, beckoning a generation of fresh graduates to cities filled with shopping malls.

    Xiaoli Shen, 25, bought into Ma's vision. Huabei funded Shen's first iPhone. It helped her afford an internship in Beijing. Soon she was using it for everything from taxis to groceries. The bills piled up. Her debt grew: "I felt like I'd never finish paying it back," Shen said.

    When government regulators cracked down on Ma and his fintech empire last fall, Shen decided to cut back and reclaim her former frugal self. She bought only a few items during Ma's annual online shopping extravaganza. She turned to binge-watching

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