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Maturities of debt investments, in PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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Any certificate of deposit or savings account held by a bank or other financial institution for a short-term specified period of time between three months and one year.

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Amount after tax of increase (decrease) to equity or (increase) decrease to net assets, resulting from the cumulative effect adjustment of a new accounting principle applied in the period of adoption.

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Amount of cost for defined contribution plan.

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Indicates (true false) whether practical expedients are elected for not reassessing whether any expired or existing contract is or contains lease, lease classification for expired or existing lease, and initial direct cost for any existing lease.

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The total expense recognized in the period for promotion, public relations, and brand or product advertising.

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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

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Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease.

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Indicates line item in statement of financial position that includes operating lease liability.

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Amount of lessee's right to use underlying asset under operating lease.

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Indicates line item in statement of financial position that includes operating lease right-of-use asset.

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Indicates (true false) whether practical expedient was elected not to adjust consideration for effect of financing component when transfer and customer payment for product or service occurs within one year or less.

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The portion of net income or loss attributable to temporary equity interest.

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Summary of significant accounting policies- Various (Details) ¥ in Millions	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2020 CNY (¥) segment	Mar. 31, 2019 CNY (¥) segment	Mar. 31, 2018 CNY (¥) segment	Apr. 01, 2019 CNY (¥)	Apr. 01, 2018 CNY (¥)
Business combinations and noncontrolling interests
Net loss attributable to mezzanine equity holders		¥ 124	¥ 438	¥ 930
Segment reporting
Number of operating segment \| segment		4	4	4
Number of reportable segment \| segment		4	4	4
Revenue recognition
Practical expedient, unsatisfied performance obligations		true
Practical expedient, financing component		true
Sales and marketing expenses
Advertising and promotional expenses		¥ 30,949	¥ 22,013	¥ 16,814
Leases
Operating lease right-of-use assets		34,660
Lease, Practical Expedients, Package [true false]	true
Operating lease liability		¥ 21,857
Operating lease right-of-use assets, Statement of Financial Position		baba:PrepaidExpenseReceivablesAndOtherAssetsNoncurrent
Operating lease liabilities, Statement of Financial Position		us-gaap:AccountsPayableAndAccruedLiabilitiesCurrent us-gaap:OtherLiabilitiesNoncurrent
Short term investments
Short-term investments- fixed deposits		¥ 19,147	961
Minimum
Investment securities
Maturities of debt investments		1 year
Maximum
Investment securities
Maturities of debt investments		10 years
Retained earnings
Revenue recognition
Adjustment				8,196
Leases
Adjustment				8,196
Investment securities
Adjustment				8,196
ASU 2014-09 \| Adjustment \| Retained earnings
Revenue recognition
Adjustment						¥ 0
Leases
Adjustment						0
Investment securities
Adjustment						0
ASU 2016-01 \| Adjustment \| Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)
Revenue recognition
Adjustment						(8,196)
Leases
Adjustment						(8,196)
Investment securities
Adjustment						(8,196)
ASU 2016-01 \| Adjustment \| Retained earnings
Revenue recognition
Adjustment						8,196
Leases
Adjustment						8,196
Investment securities
Adjustment						¥ 8,196
ASU 2016-02 \| Adjustment
Leases
Operating lease right-of-use assets					¥ 24,900
Operating lease liability					19,400
ASU 2016-02 \| Adjustment \| Retained earnings
Revenue recognition
Adjustment					0
Leases
Adjustment					0
Investment securities
Adjustment					0
Land use rights \| ASU 2016-02 \| Adjustment
Leases
Operating lease right-of-use assets					¥ 6,419
Government-mandated multi-employer defined contribution plan in PRC
Other employee benefits
Contribution amount charged to the consolidated income statements		¥ 6,317	¥ 5,608	¥ 3,587