China’s tech billionaires donate to universities amid calls to prioritise innovation
Baidu and JD.com made sizeable donations to Peking University and Tsinghua University, respectively, as President Xi Jinping reiterates calls for companies to step up innovation.
The CEOs at Baidu and JD.com and their spouses pledged millions to China’s two top universities amid calls by President Xi Jinping for the country’s businesses to pick up the pace in mastering core technologies to drive development.
Baidu CEO Robin Li Yanhong, his wife Melissa Ma and the company jointly donated 660 million yuan (US$104 million) to Peking University to commemorate the institution’s 120th anniversary, according to a statement.
The donation will set up a Peking University Baidu Fund and support cutting-edge research into areas that complement the company’s artificial intelligence technologies, such as information management, medicine, economics, communications and sociology.
JD CEO Richard Liu Qiangdong and his wife Zhang Zetian gave 200 million yuan to Tsinghua University for research into AI, logistics and other uses, according to a statement.
