Bernard Chan Pak-li (, born 1976) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

politician with the

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a pro-Beijing conservative political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Starry Lee and holding 13 Legislative Council seats, it is currently the largest party in the l ...

. Outside politics he is involved in the pharmaceuticals industry.

Scientific career

In November 2004, Chan became the director of research and development at the LifeTec Group (), a pharmaceutical company which developed recombinant protein drugs for the treatment of

liver disease Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. Signs and symptoms Some of the sig ...

. In 2006, he and his friends co-founded Comprehensive Drug Enterprises, which would go on to win the Hong Kong Award for Industries' Technological Achievement Award in 2007. Chan is also a member of the Hong Kong Biotechnology Organization's Executive Council.

In politics

Chan first ran for public office in the 2007 local elections for

Kwun Tong District Council The Kwun Tong District Council () is the district council for the Kwun Tong District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Kwun Tong District Council consists of 40 members since January 2020, of which the district is divided into 40 ...

to represent Ping Shek. With the help of film director Raymond Wong — the father of his then-girlfriend Alvina Wong Yee-kwan (黃漪鈞) — in canvassing the district, Chan was able to receive 62.9% of votes cast, defeating Yun Kwun-wai of the

Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) is a pro-democracy liberal political party in Hong Kong. It is currently chaired by barrister Alan Leong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Basic Law Article 45 Concern Group, which was derived from the B ...

and two independent candidates in a landslide to succeed fellow DAB member

Chan Kam-lam Chan Kam-lam, GBS, JP (; born 22 January 1949) is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing the Kowloon East constituency. He is also a core member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong ...

in the Ping Shek seat. He was returned to the same seat in the

2011 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2011. * Local electoral calendar 2011 * National electoral calendar 2011 * 2011 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2011 Beninese presidential election * 2011 Beninese parliamentary el ...

with an even larger margin of victory, receiving 77.2% of votes cast to defeat Lam Sum-shing of the

League of Social Democrats The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy camp and stresses on ...

. In February 2013, Chan was nominated by the

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development heads the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Government. The Secretary is responsible for promoting commerce and the economic development of Hong Kong. The position was c ...

to become the

political assistant The Political Appointments System is a scheme introduced in 2008 by the Hong Kong Government to reinforce its ministerial team by superseding the Principal Officials Accountability System and inserting two layers of politically appointed offic ...

for the

Commerce and Economic Development Bureau The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for policy matters on Hong Kong's external commercial relations, inward investment promotion, intellectual property protection, industry and ...

, and renounced his U.S. citizenship. He resigned from the Kwun Tong District Council to take up the post, triggering a by-election.

of the DAB stated that the party respected his decision and had no intention of blocking party members from resigning to serve the public in other fields, and that there were ongoing internal discussions in the DAB about whether or not to field a candidate in the resulting by-election.

Personal life

Chan's father Chan Chung-nam (陳宗南) is an energy businessman in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and a member of the Standing Committee of the

Zhanjiang Zhanjiang (), historically spelled Tsamkong, is a prefecture-level city at the southwestern end of Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, facing Haikou city to the south. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,981,236 (6,994,832 ...

People's Political Consultative Conference. Chan himself graduated from Hong Kong's

La Salle College La Salle College (LSC) (, Demonym: Lasallian) is a boys' secondary school in Hong Kong. It was established in 1932 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by St. John Bapti ...

in 1993, and went on to receive a PhD from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

in 2003. He married Michelle Li (李淑媛), originally of

Xinyang Xinyang (; postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. Its total population was 6,234,401 according to the 2020 census. As of t ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

in mainland China, in February 2014; the two met at a technology event in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Bernard Pak-li 1976 births Living people Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong politicians Duke University Pratt School of Engineering alumni People who renounced United States citizenship