Dr Che-woo Lui, GBS, MBE, JP, LLD, DSSc, DBA

Dr Che-woo Lui was born in Jiangmen, China in 1929. He established the first K. Wah company in Hong Kong in the 1950s. He is currently the Chairman of K. Wah Group. Its major member companies include K. Wah International Holdings Limited (Stock code: 0173), Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited (Stock code: 0027), Stanford Hotels International Limited and K. Wah Construction Materials Limited. Today, K. Wah has developed into a multinational conglomerate involving properties, entertainment & leisure, hospitality and construction materials with over 200 subsidiaries and more than 20,000 employees worldwide.

Dr Lui is a pioneer in Hong Kong construction materials industry. In the 1960s, he embarked on property investments. In the 1980s, he set his sights on hotel development. In the 1990s, Dr Lui expanded his business into Mainland China. In 2002, he ventured into Macau's gaming business and is now one of the six gaming concessionaires in Macau where he aims at developing world class travel, leisure, shopping, meeting, convention, exhibition and entertainment facilities.

A distinguished philanthropist, Dr Lui has been particularly supportive of the development of medical care and education. He was Chairman of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in 1981-1982. In 1999, Dr Lui provided funds for the Stanford University Medical Centre to set up Lui Che Woo Research Laboratory. He also holds important posts in various tertiary institutions including Founding Honorary President of the University of Hong Kong Foundation of Educational Development and Research, Member of the Board of Trustees of United College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Member of the Consultative Committee of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Honorary Dean of Business Faculty of Yangzhou University, and Member of the Board of Directors of Fudan University. In 2002, the Dr Che-woo Lui Awards for CUHK/Cornell Student Exchange Programme in Hospitality Management was established to facilitate academic exchanges of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management. In 2005, an initiative in support of the reconstruction and refurbishment of 150 schools in underpriviledged regions acrossed Mainland China was commited through The Ministry of Education. In 2006, a fund was set up at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for academic research and scholarship for outstanding students. In 2008, donations were pledged in support of the renovation and expansion of a centenary building at Fudan University and the development of new Beijing campus for the China Europe International Business School. In 2010, donation was made to the University of Macau to support new campus development in Hengqin, Zhuhai.

In recognition of his exemplary contributions to the community, Dr Lui was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by The Queen (MBE) in 1982 and was appointed as a Justice of the Peace (JP) in 1986. In 1995, an asteroid discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing was named "Lui Che Woo Star". Dr Lui was also awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa by the University of Victoria in 2001; the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa, by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2002; an Honorary University Fellowship by the University of Hong Kong in 2002; the degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Concordia in 2004, and the degree of Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa, by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In addition, Dr Lui was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) in 2005. In 2007, he was honoured as the Business Person of the Year in DHL/SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards and presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by American Academy of Hospitality Sciences.

As a good citizen, Dr Lui was the Committee Member of the 9th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1998. Dr Lui was elected for the Hotel Subsector of the Election Committee for the Third Term Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in December 2006 and represented the Hotel Subsector to elect the Third Term Chief Executive in March 2007.

Awards and Honours