Henry Fok Hong Kong businessman Date of Birth: 10.05.1923 Country: Hong Kong

Biography of Henry Fok

Henry Fok, a Hong Kong businessman, was the Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference starting from March 1993, and was likely considered the most influential native of Hong Kong in Chinese politics. He was born on May 10, 1923, in Hong Kong. Part of his ancestors belonged to an ethnic group known as the "Tankas," or "water people," who spent their entire lives on the water, using boats not only for transportation but also as homes. His father's family moved to Hong Kong from Nansha, a town that is now considered one of the districts of Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China.

When Henry was seven years old, his father died in a boat incident on the river. He studied at Queen's College but was unable to complete his education due to the Japanese invasion that began in 1937. During this time, he worked as a laborer to support his family, who managed a small boat business. After the war, Henry Fok became a successful entrepreneur, with interests in restaurants, real estate, casinos, and petroleum products. It was reported that he accumulated his first fortune by trading weapons on the mainland during the Korean War in the early 1950s, bypassing the UN embargo on arms sales. Fok vehemently denied the weapons trading allegations but admitted to violating laws regarding contraband goods, particularly steel and rubber.

He held positions as the President of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, President of the Hong Kong Football Association, and President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong. Additionally, Fok led companies such as "Henry Fok Estates Ltd" and "Yau Wing Co of Hong Kong".

Prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Fok served as a member of the editorial committee working on the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), which functions as Hong Kong's constitution. He also held positions as Vice Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong SAR and Vice Chairman of the Preparatory Committee. Furthermore, Henry Fok was a member of the 7th National People's Congress Standing Committee. The press often mentioned that it was Henry Fok who introduced Tung Chee Hwa to Jiang Zemin as a potential candidate for the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Fok helped Tung Chee Hwa navigate through the likely bankruptcy of his family business, "Orient Overseas Container Line," in the 1980s. Because of their close relationship, Henry Fok was always regarded as a trusted aide and advisor to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

In 1984, Fok established the "Fok Ying Tung Foundation," which has become one of the largest philanthropic organizations in Hong Kong. The foundation provided funding to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, receiving no less than $100 million from Fok in 2005. In Nansha, the birthplace of his ancestors, Henry Fok organized a high-tech business park. It was rumored that Fok visited the area no fewer than 500 times.

Henry Fok was married three times and fathered at least 13 children. His eldest son, Timothy Fok, born in 1946, serves as the Chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association and is a member of the Legislative Council. Ian Fok, whose son was convicted of drug possession in 2005, manages several enterprises and held the position of Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. Thomas Fok, Henry's son from his second marriage, born in 1950, also worked in the family business, but in 1991, he served six months in an American prison for smuggling 15,000 AK-47 rifles into the United States and Serbia.

On October 28, 2006, Henry Fok passed away at the age of 83 at the Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, where he was being treated for cancer. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1984, and cancer appeared 20 years later in 2004. Fok's body was brought back to Hong Kong for traditional funeral ceremonies according to his own wishes. Fok became the third native of Hong Kong whose coffin was draped in the Chinese national flag since the sovereignty handover.