The response by Chinese donors to this pandemic so far illustrates how the country's philanthropy is beginning to go global, say observers.
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana: Less than a month after China confirmed the emergence of what soon became the new coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba pledged US$144 million in medical supplies for Hubei province and its capital city Wuhan.
Three days later, he announced a donation of 1.1 million test kits and 6 million masks to be distributed to all 54 African countries.By the end of March, every other region of the world benefited from his largesse, including Western Europe, Latin America, Asia and Russia.The Chinese search engine company Baidu has pledged US$43 million to support drug research and help disseminate public health information in China.
Separately, China Evergrande Group, China’s largest real estate company, has set up a US$115 million effort in Boston that brings together researchers at top universities such as Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology China’s Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health along with local biotechnology companies to develop tests, treatments and do other work aimed at halting the pandemic.
In the fall 2019, he stepped away from his leadership role at Alibaba, the company he founded in 1999 that now has more than 100,000 employees. The entrepreneur stated at that time that he wanted to devote himself to philanthropy, especially causes tied to education.Baidu's co-founder and CEO Robin Li delivers a keynote speech at the opening session of Baidu's annual AI developers conference Baidu Create 2019 in Beijing, China, Jul 3, 2019.
Ma isn’t the only self-made Chinese entrepreneur to go big with philanthropy. Charles Chen Yidan, a Tencent co-founder, left the company in 2013. Like Ma, he’s emphasizing education. The Yidan Prize – which amounts to US$3.8 million – is the world’s most generous award for educational research.He Qiaonv, who made her fortune in China’s burgeoning landscaping business, pledged that she would give away $1.5 billion for wildlife conservation in 2017.
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