Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma, China’s richest man, pledged $14.5 million to fight the coronavirus

Tech billionaire Jack Ma has pledged $14.5 million towards fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

The Alibaba founder will donate 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) through his charitable foundation.

Bill and Melinda Gates have also pledged assistance, while Tencent and TikTok owner ByteDance are among the Chinese firms to be helping.

The coronavirus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread to at least 15 countries, as well as every region of mainland China.

Tech billionaire Jack Ma has pledged $14.5 million towards fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

Ma, who is China’s richest man and the founder of ecommerce giant Alibaba, will donate the money through his eponymous charitable foundation to support the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

In a post on its Weibo account, Ma’s foundation said it had it has donated 100 million yuan to “support the development of a coronavirus vaccine.”

“We know that the battle between humanity and disease is a long journey. This money will help various medical research efforts and help disease prevention,” it added.

Numerous tech companies in China have also pledged assistance.

Ted S. Warren/AP

According to Bloomberg, Tencent has donated 300 million yuan ($43.5 million) of goods and will provide mapping and data services, while Baidu and TikTok owner ByteDance are also contributing financial aid.

Outside China, Bill and Melinda Gates have pledged $10 million in emergency funds to frontline responders in China and Africa.

The coronavirus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. It has since spread to at least 15 countries, as well as reaching every region of mainland China.

At least 170 people have been killed by it, with 7,711 confirmed infection cases in China as of January 29.