Jack Ma, founder, chairman and CEO of China's e-commerce company Alibaba Group, has announced that beginning in 2010 the company will earmark 0.3% of annual revenue to environmental protection, particularly on water and air quality improvement projects.

According to local media reports, Alibaba's environmental protection fund will work to spur environmental awareness and conservation in China, and motivate Alibaba's customers, sourcing partners and employees to take actions that will lead to a cleaner environment for future generations.

Following Alibaba.com, a flagship company of Alibaba Group, other member companies of Alibaba Group, including Taobao, Alipay, China Yahoo and Alibaba Cloud Computing, will all take up their proportional share of this commitment.

Jack Ma told local media that in addition to funding environmental programs, Alibaba will devote human resources and efforts to driving the understanding of environmental issues. The company will make public welfare an index in assessing the performance of its employees. Alibaba's target is to be a company full of sense of happiness for employees, said Ma.

Previously, the group adopted a 100-mu forest in Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou to make it a green base. Taobao.com, a subsidiary of Alibaba, has joined hands with China Green Foundation and United Nations Environment Programme in launching an environmental initiative to encourage people to plant trees to reduce carbon emissions.