One of the men who arranged the donation in 2016, billionaire Zhang Bin, is listed online as chairman of Millennium Golden Eagle International.

In 2016, when the donation was announced, the Université de Montréal says scientific and economic relations between the two countries were more open.

A political controversy over a donation to the foundation bearing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's family name deepened Thursday when one of the directors reportedly quit his post because of the controversy.