Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which is scheduled to hold a series of events to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the school's founding next week, received a record-setting donation for the institution from Chinese battery giant CATL.

The company announced on Wednesday that its controlling shareholder, Xiamen Ruiting Investment Co Ltd, plans to donate 5 million shares of CATL stock to the SJTU Education Development Foundation. This donation is intended to support the educational development of the university.

The donation corresponded to a market value of around 2 billion yuan ($291 million), breaking the previous donation record for SJTU.

The donor behind this generosity is Zeng Yuqun, founder and CEO of CATL. Born in Ningde city, Fujian province, Zeng completed his undergraduate studies at the university.

It was not Zeng's first significant donation to his alma mater. According to SJTU's official website, in 2021, Zeng made a similar donation, aiming to support the development of the university's Global Institute of Future Technology and nurture leaders in critical core technologies for the future.

The market value of the stock donated that time exceeded 1.3 billion yuan, making it the third-largest donation ever received by a Chinese university at the time, according to local news portal ThePaper.cn.