Alibaba Shows Signs of Strain as China's Economy Shudders

China’s dominant e-commerce company will offer clues to the health of the nation’s middle-class, and how it’s navigating the slowdown, when it unveils earnings Jan. 30. The company founded by billionaire Jack Ma has been pivotal over the past decade in helping create a $1 trillion-plus Chinese online shopping arena, the world’s largest. “China’s internet sector had one of its worst years in 2018, underperforming the market for the first time,” Elinor Leung, an analyst at CLSA, said in a report.