Fang Runhua

Henry Fong Yun-wah GBS MBE JP (born, died), was a property developer and investor in Hong Kong. His ancestral home was Hetian Village, Houjie Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. He was born in Lan Kou Town, Dongyuan County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. He served as Chairman of Hip Shing Hong Group of Companies, Chairman of the Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation and the Henry Fong Yun-wah Foundation, and was an Independent Non-Executive Director of China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Limited. He was once selected by *Forbes* as one of the "Asian Heroes of Philanthropy" and received China's highest charity honor, the China Charity Award. In the 2013 Forbes Hong Kong Rich List, he ranked 21st with a net worth of USD 2.5 billion (approx. RMB 15.5 billion), and in 2016 ranked 771st on the Forbes Global Billionaires List with USD 2.3 billion.

Biography

Early Life

Fong Yun-wah had three younger brothers. In 1927, he followed his father, Fong Shu-chuen, to Hong Kong. The family opened the "Yick Tak Sesame Factory" in Shau Kei Wan and rented over 10,000 square feet of government land to sun-dry sesame. Fong studied at Ip Ming-suen Private School and King's College, Hong Kong. His studies were interrupted by the Japanese invasion, and he left school in 1941. In 1943, the family business began importing cinnamon bark (cassia) and sesame from Mainland China for re-export to the United States.

Founding of Hip Shing Hong

In 1948, Fong and his father founded Hip Shing Hong Group on Wing Wo Street in Central. By 1951, it had become the largest cinnamon exporter in Hong Kong. However, the outbreak of the Korean War and UN embargo against China triggered an economic transformation in Hong Kong. The Fongs foresaw this and entered the property and construction industries. They gradually acquired properties and land. In 1958, they sold their first residential building, Kam Wah Mansion, and the group became one of Hong Kong's established property developers. Hip Shing Hong was also a founding member of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong established in 1965.

In 1976, following the government's encouragement of home ownership, Hip Shing Hong expanded its real estate business, developing nearly 100 projects at its peak. The group adopted a long-term strategy of selling residential units while retaining ground floor shops for rental income, in line with its conservative business principles.

As Hong Kong's financial sector developed, Hip Shing Hong seized the opportunity and was listed concurrently with major developers like Cheung Kong Holdings and Sun Hung Kai Properties in 1972. Shares were issued at HKD 1 each, raising a total of HKD 100 million.

In 1989, the company was privatized, with public shares bought back at HKD 15 each. In 1993, Fong's youngest son, Fong Man-hung, returned from the United States and took over as head of the company. In 2012, his grandson Fong Tim-fai (Fong Man-hung’s eldest son) joined the company to oversee hotel projects.

Death

On 6 January 2022, Hip Shing Hong announced in a press release that Chairman and former Vice President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, Henry Fong Yun-wah, passed away at the age of 98, surrounded by family.

Public Service and Honours

Fong held many honorary and advisory positions in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and overseas, including Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the Hong Kong Economic Development Association, Special Advisor to the Hong Kong International Investment Chamber of Commerce, Advisor to the Hong Kong Red Cross, Committee Member of the Hong Kong Pui Wah Education Foundation, Patron of the Hong Kong Children's Health Foundation, Chief Honorary Director of the Hong Kong Tung Koon District General Association, Honorary President of the China Charity Federation, Honorary Council Member of the China Youth Development Foundation, Executive Council Member of the China Overseas Exchange Association, and Advisor to friendship and exchange associations in Guangdong, Anhui, and other provinces. Dozens of universities also appointed him honorary or guest professor or board member.

He was formerly Vice President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, First Director of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (1956–1957), and Chairman of Po Leung Kuk (1964–1966). He was awarded the MBE in 1968. In the 1960s, he was also a member of the Advisory Committee on Gambling Policy, a member of the Real Estate Association, Chairman of the Tung Koon Association, and Supervisor of the Aberdeen Association Fong Shu-chuen School.

He received multiple honors, including the China Charity Award from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the title of "Top Ten National Poverty Alleviation Models", and honorary doctorates or fellowships from 15 universities. Fourteen cities granted him honorary citizenship. The Hong Kong SAR government awarded him the Silver and Gold Bauhinia Stars. In 1994 and 2006, asteroids No. 5198 and No. 5709 were named "Fong Yun-wah Star" and "Fong Tam Yuen-leung Star" respectively in honor of him and his wife by the International Astronomical Union, the first such case in China.

Philanthropy

In 1977, Fong and his father founded the Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization. In 1986, he established the Henry Fong Yun-wah Foundation. Both foundations annually allocated over 10% of company profits to charitable work. Since 1978, they donated to build one secondary school and four primary schools in Hong Kong, including the CCC Fong Yun-wah Primary School in Tin Shui Wai. Donations were also made to education projects at all ten Hong Kong universities, the University of Macau, and National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan.

After China's Reform and Opening Up, the foundations sponsored about 600 education projects from kindergartens to universities across 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. In recent years, with educational development maturing in China, donations increasingly shifted toward healthcare—constructing 56 township clinics and supporting medical research projects at top universities to combat cancer, hepatitis B, diabetes, and promote integrated Chinese-Western medical approaches.