Dar es Salaam, Jan. 20 -- Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Chinese internet behemoth Alibaba, made his first public appearance in over two months in an online video Wednesday, ending weeks of speculation about his whereabouts.

Ma, one of China's richest people with a fortune estimated at around USD58 billion - disappeared from the public eye in early November, when he was hauled in front of regulators for an October speech critical of China's outdated financial system.

Shortly afterwards, the record-breaking USD37 billion IPO of his financial group Ant was spiked at the last minute by Chinese regulators in a shock move which some saw as retaliation for Ma's outspokenness.

But a video clip of Ma giving a congratulatory speech to rura...