Couple respond to $15m donation to Harvard University

Real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi poses with the waxwork model of himself during an unveiling ceremony at the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Beijing, China, April 16, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

Internet divided over $15m donation to Harvard

Netizens cheer, jeer couple's $15m donation to Harvard

SOHO president Pan Shiyi has recently signed an agreement for a grant worth $15 million with Harvard, which has stirred controversy among Chinese netizens. They question why the real estate giant who has made his fortune in China is aiding higher education institutes abroad rather than in China.

SOHO CEO Zhang Xin says that the student grant is to ensure that more excellent Chinese students who are not wealthy have the opprotunity to attend the world's top universities. Pan Shiyi also responded on his weibo account that the student grant is only for Chinese students who are not well-off.

Netizens question why the funds did not go to colleges in China

The Chinese economist Yao Shujie questions why a real estate giant should make his fortune in China but donate funds to faraway America. Netizens have followed by asking why the donation did not go to colleges in China.

Zhang Xin has said that the SOHO Student Grant will provide $100 million worldwide to aid poor Chinese students to pursue bachelor's degrees in the world's top universities. Students with family incomes lower than 65,000 RMB can apply.

According to foreign media, Harvard is the first stop for Pan Shiyi's aid plan. Zhang Xin said that they will now enter into discussions with Yale.

Response: Only aids poor Chinese students

Among other concerns, some netizens speculate that Pan Shiyi's aid to overseas students might be a long-term overseas investment plan, sending excellent students to the world's top universities to create a talent pool for SOHO. Others express the view that Pan might be buying an opportunity for his son to go to Harvard through his donation.

Zhang Xin has said that SOHO has not need to offer aid to students in order to persuade them to return to China or work for SOHO.

In response to Yao Shujie, Pan Shiyi has emphasized that the student grant is only for poor Chinese students. But netizens further pose the question "How many poor families could afford to send their children to study abroad?"

A post-graduate Chinese student in Harvard's School of Architecture says that his major forbids him from applying for any funds from companies other than school scholarships. He also points out that many of his classmates are from ordinary families.