Terry Gou, chairman of China’s biggest exporter, has donated NT$15bn (£308m) to the National Taiwan University (NTU) in Teipei, to combat cancer.

Gou is chairman of the Foxconn Hon-Hai Group, which makes electronic equipment for some of the best known technology brands in the UK and US. The Yong-ling Health Foundation, which is part of the Foxconn Hon-Hai Group, will administer the gift, reportedly the largest ever in Taiwan, to the university.

Dr. Si-chen Lee, president of NTU, said that the gift was especially significant in a time of world financial crisis and economic austerity.

It will be used to construct a cancer hospital, undertake clinical cancer research, and fund research and development for bio-medical engineering. Gou lost his first wife to cancer and his younger brother to leukaemia.

Forbes ranks Gou as Taiwan’s third richest man, with a net worth of around $6 bn (£4.08 bn).