Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To
the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Alibaba Group Holding Limited:
In
our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated income statements, consolidated statements of comprehensive income, changes in shareholders' equity and cash
flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Alibaba Group Holding Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Company") at March 31, 2016 and 2017, and the
results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended March 31, 2017 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2017, based on
criteria established in
Internal
Control Integrated Framework
(2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company's
management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting, included in Management's Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 15. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial
statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits (which were integrated audits in 2016 and 2017). We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards
of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting,
assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A
company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements
for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain
to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that
transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are
being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because
of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are
subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Hong Kong, June 15, 2017
F-2
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