On October 23, Glory Harvest Group’s chairman Mr. Weibo Li donated HKD $30 million to Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Shenzhen Research Institute. In recognition of his contribution, the university decided to name the new building “Li Weibo Building”.

The newly constructed building is 25,000 square meters across nine floors. The institute will focus on the 16 leading disciplines of CUHK in biomedicine, information technology and sustainable development areas.

Mr. Li said, the highly skilled talents and R&D achievements power a country’s development. The competitiveness of Hong Kong and China mainland heavily relies on the investment in innovation, education and R&D. He hopes more people would participate in the philanthropy and support the development of education. 

Mr. Li has been actively involved in the philanthropic work. He has donated 70 million yuan to support education, medical services, environmental protection, poverty reduction and disaster recovery. To establish a systematic, branded and sustainable platform for the philanthropic work, Mr. Li launched Li Weibo Foundation in October 2013 to support education, university student entrepreneurs and orphans’ welfare.

It is not common for a university to name its buildings after a person in Shenzhen. The earliest example that could be tracked happened in 1989, when Shenzhen University’s Equipment Testing Centre was named after Run Run Shaw, a renowned person in Hong Kong.

According to Professor Wang of Shenzhen University, although the development of technology has eliminated those old equipment and the Run Run Shaw Equipment Testing Centre could no longer be found in the university, Mr Shaw has implanted the spirit of philanthropy in generations of university students.