Man gets 18-month term for sex assault of Alibaba employee

A court in Jinan on June 22 found Zhang to be guilty of forcible indecency against Zhou while she was drunk at the dinner and the next day in her hotel room, and sentenced him to prison, according to a statement issued by the court on its official WeChat account. — AP

HONG KONG: A man involved in a high-profile sexual assault against an Alibaba employee was sentenced to 18 months in prison on June 22, months after the employee went public about her assault and sparked renewed conversation of the treatment of women in Chinese society.

The defendant, Zhang Guo, was a representative from a supermarket that was in talks for business dealings with Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant. Zhang had met the female Alibaba employee, surnamed Zhou, at a business dinner in July 2021.