At the initial public offering ceremony of Alibaba last week, which resulted in a new 'richest Chinese', there was an interesting detail: Ma Yun (Jack Ma) did not ring the bell himself; instead, he invited 8 of his clients – including a post-90s university student, a delivery man, and an online-store owner - to do the job. After Alibaba's "orange storm" swept New York, China, and the world at large, a question was on everyone's lips: Can the miracle of Alibaba be replicated? How many other small firms in China can navigate their way to success as Alibaba just did?

In the many articles decoding the secret of the Alibaba Miracle, a common view is that its success is unlikely to be replicated by others - the company is unique in many ways. However, if anything, the experiences of Ma, his Alibaba, and his bell-ringers support Ma's belief: Don't underestimate the people and companies that still look small today because, as he said at the celebrating ceremony of the IPO: "Small is power; small is beautiful."

The people of China are witnessing an era when entrepreneurship and innovation are more accessible than ever, giving them ever-higher expectations in an environment that allows cocoons to become butterflies.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, "entrepreneurship" and "innovation" have become two national buzzwords in China. From tax reform to the removal of more than 600 excessive certification and qualification procedures, policies and measures adopted by the central and regional governments of China have helped build a more supportive environment for small business than was ever imagined 15 years ago, when Alibaba was first registered as a company. There was more good news last week when China's State Council put forward another 6 new policies to lower the threshold and eliminate hurdles for small firms, making the replication of the Alibaba Miracle more likely.

But there is no free lunch. All dividends from reform and favorable policies must derive from hard work and innovation, not only on the part of the government, but also from companies and individuals themselves. Stories of so many entrepreneurs - including Ma Yun, whose path to wealth started from a small translation workshop and Yellow Pages – testify to the fact that both a friendly business environment and personal endeavor are indispensable ingredients to successfully transforming the smallest into the strong and powerful.

The government too needs to realize that to further optimize the "business for all" environment and turn entrepreneurial passion into impetus of economic development, further steps have to be taken.

For several years now, local leaders in China have been asking themselves "Why weren't we the birthplace of Alibaba?" Today, many people are asking "Why wasn't Alibaba listed on A share market of China?" These are self-reflections as well as a reminder: what did we offer to small firms when they were just starting up? Can our stage accommodate their dreams and aspirations?

From January to August this year, over 8 million market entities were registered, but many people were taken by surprise when some economic indexes actually dropped in August. Some took this as evidence that the markets have not yet bought into the current phase of reform. Although no sound causal relationship has been established, the government still needs to think about ways to help newly born businesses survive tough times through deepened reform, instead of simply offering them favorable start-up policies. 

This article was edited and translated from "阿里传奇"能被多少"小微"复制, source: People's Daily.