Real estate developer reneges on multimillion-dollar pledge to Harvard-led Covid project

A financially troubled Chinese real-estate developer has reneged on a major pledge to Harvard University, leaving a shortfall of millions of dollars for a major COVID-19 research effort involving hundreds of experts from academia and industry across Massachusetts.

This is the second multimillion-dollar gift to Harvard that China Evergrande Group has struggled to deliver in recent years, and it also follows a disappointing hospital venture that the company launched with Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Evergrande had pledged $115 million to fund a pathbreaking research effort to fight COVID-19, just as the coronavirus was sweeping the globe in early 2020. Over five years, $57.5 million each would go to Harvard and Chinese scientists.

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