Mr. Li Ka-shing is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cheung Kong Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd. and Hutchison Whampoa Limited (Hutchison Whampoa), and a member of Cheung Kong Industrial Group.
The group's business covers 55 countries around the world and employs about 250,000 people. The Group has 8 listed companies in Hong Kong with a total market value of about HK$ 805 billion (September 3, 2007). Hutchison Whampoa is one of the Fortune Global 500 companies. Mr Li Ka-shing was born in Chaozhou, the southeast coastal city of China, on 1928. When he was a child, he fled to Hong Kong with his family to escape the war, and his father later died of lung disease in Hong Kong. Due to the burden of supporting the family, Mr. Li was forced to drop out of school when he was under the age of 15 and worked in a plastic trading company, working 16 hours a day. With his diligence, prudence and pursuit of Excellence, Mr. Li founded Changjiang Industrial Co., Ltd. on 1950, initially dealing in plastic products, and later developed into a leading real estate development company in Hong Kong, which was listed on the Stock Exchange on 1972. Changjiang continued to expand its business in 1979 and 1985 by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa Limited and Hongkong Electric Group Limited respectively.
Founded in Hong Kong, Changjiang Group's business includes property development and investment, real estate agency and management, port and related services, telecommunications, hotels, retail, energy, infrastructure, finance and investment, e-commerce, building materials, media and life science and technology. Mr. Li is convinced that unity is a city and unity is a city. This belief can be reflected from the fact that he named the company' Yangtze River', because the Yangtze River is a big river that gathers hundreds of schools in China. Mr. Li was named "Millennium Entrepreneur" by The Times and Ernst & Young.
Mr. Li believes that everyone needs to do his part to build an equal society, and set up a charity foundation at 1980, whose mission is to create a' dedication culture' for the society. Li Ka-shing Foundation focuses on two aspects of development: improving ability through education and building a caring society through medical care and related projects. Up to now, the Li Ka-shing Foundation and other charitable foundations established by Mr. Li have donated countless public welfare projects, with donations and commitments exceeding HK$ 8.4 billion over the years.
Mr. Li founded Shantou University in Shantou, China on 198 1, which promoted the reform of education system in China. Shantou University has 9 colleges, including medical college and 5 affiliated hospitals. The enrolled students come from all over China, with about 6,500 undergraduates and 0/0.5 million postgraduates.
Mr. Li Ka-shing has made great contributions to various societies because of his enthusiasm for public welfare. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge in the UK, the University of Calgary in Canada, Peking University in the Mainland and the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong. In addition, he was awarded the Grand Marshal vasco nunes de balboa, the Belgian Leopold Medal, the Grand Bauhinia Medal of order of the british empire and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and was appointed as a Justice of the Peace. He was just awarded the Commander of the Legion of Honor by the French government in June 5438 +2005 10. Mr. Li Ka-shing has two sons, the eldest son Li Zeju, the managing director and vice chairman of Cheung Kong Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd., the vice chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Co., Ltd., the chairman of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Group Co., Ltd., the chairman of Cheung Kong Life Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd., and the youngest son Li Zekai, the chairman of PCCW Co., Ltd., which is one of the leading information technology and telecommunications companies in Asia.