Henry Fok Ying Tung (10 May 1923 – 28 October 2006) was a Hong Kong businessman. He has ancestral roots in

Lianxi Village Lianxi may refer to: * Lianxi District *Lianxi, Dao County Lianxi Subdistrict () is a subdistrict and the seat of Dao County in Hunan, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world ...

Panyu Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...

, now part of

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

. Fok was the vice-chairman of the

National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

of PRC since March 1993, and was possibly the most powerful Hongkonger in the politics of the People's Republic of China. In 2006, the

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

Magazine ranked Henry Fok the 7th wealthiest tycoon in Hong Kong and 181st wealthiest tycoon in the world, with an established net worth of $3.7 billion. He died in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

on 28 October 2006.

Biography

Fok was born on 10 May 1923 in Hong Kong to an ethnic

Tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the '' Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short ...

family. Fok's father died in a boating accident when he was just seven. He studied at Queen's College, but was not able to finish junior high due to the Japanese invasion in 1937. He worked as a labourer during that time while helping to run the family's small boat business.

Business

After the war, he became a successful businessman. His business interests included restaurants, real estate, casinos and petroleum. Fok reportedly made his first fortune

gun-running Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arm ...

into the mainland during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

in the early 1950s, circumventing a United Nations

arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to " dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintai ...

. Fok vigorously denied weapons trafficking, but admits having violated sanctions by smuggling steel and rubber as well as other items. He was the President of the

Chinese General Chamber of Commerce The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCCHK; ) is a non-profit organization of local Chinese firms and businessmen based in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1900 by Ho Fook and Lau Chu-pak, two prominent leaders of the Chinese community during t ...

in Hong Kong, the President of the

Hong Kong Football Association The Hong Kong Football Association Limited (), often abbreviated to the HKFA, is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong. Its current chairman is Pui Kwan Kay and its Chief Executive Officer is Joaquin Tam. History The HKFA was ...

, and the President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong. He was also the Chairman of Henry Fok Estates Ltd and the Yau Wing Co of Hong Kong. In the 1980s Fok organized the effort to bail out

OOCL Orient Overseas Container Line, commonly known as OOCL, is a container shipping and logistics service company with headquarters in Hong Kong. The company is incorporated in Hong Kong as Orient Overseas Container Line Limited and separately in ...

from bankruptcy shortly after its founder Tung Chao-yung died.

Political

Before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, Henry Fok was a member of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the vice-chairman of the Preliminary Working Committee of Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong SAR, and the vice-chairman of the Preparatory Committee of Hong Kong SAR. He was also Standing Committee member of 7th

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,9 ...

. The press frequently reports that Henry Fok had introduced

Tung Chee Hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chin ...

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as p ...

as a possible candidate of the first Hong Kong Chief Executive. Henry Fok helped Tung Chee Hwa out of a near-bankruptcy of his family's Orient Overseas Container Line in the 1980s. Because of this relationship, it was often said while Tung was the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that Fok 'intervened/advised' if times, or rather Beijing, called for it.

Philanthropy

Henry Fok founded the Fok Ying Tung Foundation in 1984, and it is now one of the largest philanthropic organisations in Hong Kong. Fok founded a high-technology business park in

Nansha District Nansha District and Nansha New Area is one of 11 urban districts and a state-level new area of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It is the home of the present-day port of Guangzhou, as well as ...

. He is said to have visited the site more than 500 times, and through the Foundation, pledged HK$800 million (US$100 million) to the

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institut ...

in 2005 to support the initiative.

Personal

Among Fok's children, the best-known are: * Timothy Fok Tsun-ting –

chairman and Legislative Council member. * Ian Fok Chun-wan – managing director, Yau Wing Co. Ltd.; Director, Fok Ying Tung Foundation Ltd, a former chairman of the

, whose son was convicted for drug possession in 2005. Fok had family roots in

Panyu District Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...

, Guangdong.

Death

On 28 October 2006, Fok died at the age of 83 at the

Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College (), founded in 1906, is a selective public medical college based in Dongcheng, Beijing, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First Class University Plan university. The school is tied to the Peking Un ...

in Beijing, where he was being treated for cancer. He had been diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include en ...

in 1984 and the cancer had reappeared in 2004. His body was flown back to Hong Kong for a traditional funeral in accordance with his wishes. Fok was one of the first Hong Konger to have his casket draped in the Chinese national flag since the handover (the others being T. K. Ann and Wong Ker-lee). He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Reform Pioneer.

References

External links

short bios at ForbesCommentary in The Standard on Henry Fok's life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fok, Henry 1923 births 2006 deaths Businesspeople in the oil industry Deaths from cancer in the People's Republic of China Deaths from lymphoma Hong Kong billionaires Hong Kong casino industry businesspeople Hong Kong businesspeople Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Hong Kong philanthropists Hong Kong real estate businesspeople Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Delegates to the National People's Congress from Hong Kong Members of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Badminton in Hong Kong Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee members Hong Kong Affairs Advisors 20th-century philanthropists Alumni of Queen's College, Hong Kong Tanka people Arms trafficking Smugglers