To mark the 35th anniversary of the Shenzhen University on September 21st, Tencent’s four founders of the Shenzhen-based Internet giant Tencent, namely Pony Ma, Zhang Zhidong, Chen Yidan and Xu Chenye, jointly donated RMB 350 million to their alma mater in the name of the Tencent founders’ alumni team. The donation shall be used as the startup capital to establish Shenzhen University Talent Fund. In particular, Pony Ma, chairman of the board and CEO of Tencent, donated RMB 200 million, while the other three co-founders each donated RMB 50 million. At the donation ceremony, President Li Qingquan of Shenzhen University presented Chen Yidan, the representative of Tencent founders’ alumni team, with a letter of appointment as the first honorary chairman of the Shenzhen University Education Development Foundation. 

The Shenzhen University Talent Fund, sponsored by the Tencent founders’ alumni team, will be mainly used as incentives for the chair professors and study abroad grants for the graduates of Shenzhen University, in a bid to support the university to attract world-class academic talents, develop internationally leading disciplines and encourage the students to pursue advanced studies at top universities around the world. Moreover, the Tencent founders’ alumni team made the donation in the hope of stimulating more alumni’s love of the university and enthusiasm for education to contribute to the talent fund, with a view to supporting Shenzhen University to grow into a world-class university and produce more top-notch talents for Shenzhen. 

Representative Chen Yidan of the Tencent founders’ alumni team signs a contract with President Li Qingquan of Shenzhen University at the donation ceremony. 

In a speech at the donation ceremony, Tencent’s co-founder Chen Yidan noted that the donation aims to support the alma mater to attract top-notch professors and teams to introduce new ideas and make breakthroughs in teaching and research, as well as funding the outstanding students at Shenzhen University to pursue advanced studies abroad. He also encouraged the Shenzhen University Education Development Fund to take the donation as an opportunity to explore a long-term mechanism to attract more alumni to donate for the talent fund and more efficiently manage the alumni’s donations. “We’ll always keep in mind and be grateful for the education we received at our alma mater. The school motto of ‘self-reliance, self-discipline and self-improvement’ has become a sort of philosophy for us,” continued Chen. Furthermore, he urged the university students to aim for creation in a hard-working spirit and become a lifelong learner ready for team work and social commitment. 

Party Secretary Liu Hongyi of Shenzhen University presented the original copy of the admissions offer to Chen Yidan and other alumni as a memento 

Professor Liu Hongyi, Party Secretary of the CPC Shenzhen University Committee, noted that cultivation and introduction of talents is a top priority of building world-class universities and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Tencent founders’ alumni team for their support to the development to the alma mater. As a comprehensive university boasting the longest history and the most fully-fledged disciplines in Shenzhen, the university has implemented the strategy for invigorating the university through talents since its foundation 35 years ago, committed to the mission of building “the Special Economic Zone University, the Window University, the Experimental University”, and strived for the goal of enhancing the capability to serve the country and contribute to the regional economic and social development. 

Pony Ma, Zhang Zhidong, Chen Yidan, and Xu Chenye are all members of the class of 1989 at Shenzhen University. Carrying forward the alma mater’s down-to-earth, enterprising and innovative spirit, they founded Tencent after graduation that has come a long way. In the hope of giving back to the alma mater, the Tencent founders’ alumni team has supported the development of Shenzhen University for a long time. In 2008, the team donated RMB 10 million to Shenzhen University. In 2013, the team and Tencent Foundation jointly donated RMB 30 million to the university to fund the scholarships for students and teachers, innovation and entrepreneurship, and other activities to care for teachers and students.