TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - Jack Ma, co-founder of Chinese e-tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N, said on Thursday that people should make preparations for 20 years of China-U.S. trade frictions.

The economic situation is not good, and that could last for a long time, Ma said at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin.

Ma has already cautioned the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies could last decades, and China should focus on exports on the modern-day “Silk Road” that spans Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe.

Alibaba can no longer meet its promise to create 1 million jobs in the United States due to the trade tensions, Ma told Chinese news agency Xinhua on Wednesday.