Coronavirus: China's richest man donates N6.4bn to scientists developing vaccine
Thu Jan 30, 2020 11:28:am World
1.7K By Afam Jude Offor
China's richest man and founder of the e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba, Jack Ma, has donated 100 million Yuan (N5,225,827,550) to help scientists develop a vaccine for coronavirus.
The billionaire earmarked 40 million yuan (N2,090,331,020) for two Chinese government research organizations, whose experts are striving to create the vaccine. The announcement of the generous aid was announced on Wednesday, January 29, through Ma's foundation as the outbreak in the Chinese accelerated, CNN reports.
The announcement of the generous aid was announced on Wednesday, January 29, through Ma's foundation as the outbreak in the Chinese accelerated, CNN reported. The rest of the grant will support staff from research and scientific establishments in China and around the world in the control and prevention efforts of the deadly virus. Alibaba had on Saturday, January 25, announced that it was setting up a 1 billion Yuan (N52,258,275,500) fund to buy medical supplies for Wuhan and Hubei province. The company is also offering free Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing power to scientific research organisations to support the search for a vaccine or treatment. Other Chinese tech companies donating funds to coronavirus treatment efforts include telecom equipment and smartphone maker Huawei. Others are e-commerce company Tencent (TCEHY), search engine Baidu (BIDU), TikTok owner ByteDance and food delivery firm, Meituan-Dianping. The announcement came barely hours after business magnate and computer software inventor Bill Gates promised to donate KSh 500 million (N1,801,689,851) to help Africa fight the spread of coronavirus. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it would remit a total of KSh 1 billion (N3,603,379,702), which would be divided equally between China and Africa. The funds allocated for Africa will be used to create centres for disease control and prevention for screening and crisis preparedness.
The billionaire earmarked 40 million yuan (N2,090,331,020) for two Chinese government research organizations, whose experts are striving to create the vaccine. The announcement of the generous aid was announced on Wednesday, January 29, through Ma's foundation as the outbreak in the Chinese accelerated, CNN reports.
The announcement of the generous aid was announced on Wednesday, January 29, through Ma's foundation as the outbreak in the Chinese accelerated, CNN reported. The rest of the grant will support staff from research and scientific establishments in China and around the world in the control and prevention efforts of the deadly virus. Alibaba had on Saturday, January 25, announced that it was setting up a 1 billion Yuan (N52,258,275,500) fund to buy medical supplies for Wuhan and Hubei province. The company is also offering free Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing power to scientific research organisations to support the search for a vaccine or treatment. Other Chinese tech companies donating funds to coronavirus treatment efforts include telecom equipment and smartphone maker Huawei. Others are e-commerce company Tencent (TCEHY), search engine Baidu (BIDU), TikTok owner ByteDance and food delivery firm, Meituan-Dianping. The announcement came barely hours after business magnate and computer software inventor Bill Gates promised to donate KSh 500 million (N1,801,689,851) to help Africa fight the spread of coronavirus. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it would remit a total of KSh 1 billion (N3,603,379,702), which would be divided equally between China and Africa. The funds allocated for Africa will be used to create centres for disease control and prevention for screening and crisis preparedness.
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