BEIJING -- The National Natural Science Foundation of China has accepted a 500-million-yuan (about $69.7 million) donation to fund basic research led by young PhD researchers.

The donation will focus on supporting women grantees as well as those from western regions and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

According to Dou Xiankang, head of the foundation, the voluntary donation was made by Chinese tech giant Tencent, which owns the all-in-one social media app WeChat. The grant responds to the nation's call for bolstering fundamental research.

Dou said the two sides would work together to further strengthen talent cultivation, project funding, and international cooperation, setting an example to attract more high-tech enterprises and social resources to scientific research.

The foundation is a major source of China's scientific research funding, providing competitive grants to scientists committed to basic research. In recent years, it has explored more avenues to ensure the long-term development of scientific funding.