Mr Li Ka-shing is the Chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited. Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited is the flagship of the Cheung Kong Group which has business operations in 57 countries around the world and employs about 260,000 staff. In Hong Kong alone, the Group includes eight listed companies with a combined market capitalization of approximately HKD804 billion (31 July 2008). Hutchison Whampoa Limited is a Fortune Global 500 company.

Born in 1928 in Chiu Chow, a coastal city in the southeastern part of China, Mr Li fled to Hong Kong with his family to avoid the perils of war. His father suffered from tuberculosis and passed away in Hong Kong. Shouldering the responsibility of looking after the livelihood of the family, Mr Li was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he labored 16 hours a day. By 1950, his hard work, prudence and his pursuit of excellence had enabled him to start his own company, Cheung Kong Industries. From manufacturing plastics, Mr Li led and developed his company into a leading real estate investment company in Hong Kong that was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. Cheung Kong continued to expand by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa and Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited in 1979 and 1985 respectively.

Based in Hong Kong, the Cheung Kong Group's businesses encompass such diverse areas as property development and investment, real estate agency and estate management, hotels, telecommunications and e-commerce, finance and investments, retail, ports and related services, energy, infrastructure projects and materials, media, and biotechnology. Mr Li is a strong believer in synergy — the power of combined efforts. This belief is reflected in his naming his company Cheung Kong Holdings after the Yangtze River that flows through China, a great river that aggregates countless streams and tributaries. The Times in the United Kingdom and Ernst & Young UK jointly named Mr Li as the Entrepreneur of the Millennium at the turn of the century.

Mr Li believes that an equitable society can only be achieved if each and every individual is ready and willing to do his or her part. In 1980, Mr Li set up a charitable foundation with a mission to enhance the impact of its philanthropy through two strategic objectives: to nurture a culture of giving and to foster creativity, constructive engagement, and sustainablily through supporting capacity empowerment focused projects. The Li Ka Shing Foundation and other private charitable Foundations established by Mr Li support numerous charitable activities with grants, sponsorships and commitments of nearly HKD10 billion.

Mr Li also founded Shantou University in 1981 in Shantou, China, to engineer reforms in China's education system. Shantou University has nine colleges including a medical college with five affiliated hospitals. With students enrolling from all parts of China, the university has approximately 7,000 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students.

In recognition of his philanthropic efforts and his contributions to society, Mr Li has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Cambridge, the University of Calgary in Canada, Peking University, and the University of Hong Kong, among others. Mr Li, a Justice of the Peace, has also received the Grand Officer of the Order Vasco Nunez de Balboa from Panama, The Commander in the Leopold Order from Belgium, Knight (Commander of the Order) of the British Empire, the Grand Bauhinia Medal of Hong Kong and the Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur from the French Government.

Mr Li has two sons. The elder son, Victor, now serves as Managing Director and Deputy Chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, Deputy Chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, and Chairman of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited and CK Life Sciences international (Holdings) Inc. Mr Li's younger son, Richard, is Chairman of PCCW, one of Asia’s leading information technology and telecommunications companies.

31 July 2008

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