Lee Hesheng

Lee Woo Sing, originally named Lee Ng-sang, was a veteran in Hong Kong’s financial sector and a philanthropist. He was the chairman of the board of the Great Tang Financial Group, former president of the Shanghai Fraternity Association of Hong Kong, and was known as the “Bottom Fishing King,” the “Broker of the Tycoons,” and “Imperial Cat.” Lee Woo Sing College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is named after him.

Biography

A native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, Lee was born in Shanghai in 1928. Coming from a commercial family, his father was in the shipping business. However, due to the Japanese invasion of China, the family business declined, and Lee had to quit school to make a living. In his early teens, he began speculating in government bonds, stocks, and futures in Shanghai. He once recalled, “I started as an apprentice at 14, became a master at 17, opened my own shop at 19… and moved to Hong Kong at 23.” At 19, he established “Sheng Da Yong” gold shop in Shanghai for gold trading.

In 1946, he founded the Shun Lung Group. In 1951, he moved to Hong Kong, optimistic about the stock market. He worked at the Far East Exchange in Hong Kong as a floor trader. In 1986, he became a founding council member of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

During the 1987 stock market crash in Hong Kong, his Shun Lung Group incurred over HKD 100 million in debt. Lee sold company stocks at a loss, mortgaged assets, including his children’s properties, and, with the help of two friends, managed to repay all debts and survive the crisis.

In 1997, he was appointed as a council member of Shaw College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. During his tenure, he made multiple donations to support teaching and research for CUHK students and helped establish the Mainland Students’ Association, the first of its kind at Hong Kong tertiary institutions. The Lee Woo Sing Self-learning Centre at Shaw College (later renamed the Hong Kong History Research Centre) was named after him.

In the 1998 financial crisis, when the Hong Kong government was forced to intervene in the market, his Shun Lung Group was one of the brokerages selected to combat international speculators (such as George Soros). Lee gained the nickname “Imperial Cat.” To prevent recurrence, he made three proposals: (1) A dedicated task force of Hong Kong financial experts and officials to devise comprehensive strategies; (2) Changing the settlement of futures contracts from once a month to once every three months, allowing monthly rollovers and full spot settlement; (3) Maintaining the Linked Exchange Rate system (pegging HKD to USD) while permitting limited exchange rate fluctuations.

He once sold Shun Lung Group for HKD 180 million to Zhou Zhengyi, then dubbed the “Richest Man in Shanghai,” marking a major financial success story.

Lee passed away at the end of October 2022 due to organ failure at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin. He was 95.

Philanthropy

• In 1993, donated HKD 13.5 million to the Chinese University of Hong Kong to establish the Shanghai Fraternity Association Research and Technology Centre.
• In April 2008, donated for Peking Opera soundtrack restoration in Tianjin.
• Funded the “Lee Woo Sing Economic and Cultural Research Centre” at Zhejiang University.

Public Roles

Lee held many public and honorary positions:

• **Securities Sector**
  • Founding council member, Hong Kong Stock Exchange
  • Honorary president, Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association
  • Honorary advisor, Hong Kong Securities Brokers Association

• **Fellowship Associations**
  • President, Honorary Founding President, and Permanent Honorary President, Shanghai Fraternity Association of Hong Kong
  • Honorary president, Zhejiang Fellowship Association of Hong Kong
  • Director, Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai Fellowship Association
  • Honorary president, Ningbo Fellowship Association of Hong Kong

• **Higher Education**
  • Fourth-term board member, Fudan University
  • Honorary executive board member, Tongji University
  • Council member, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Honorary professor, Zhejiang University
  • Honorary professor, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

• **Regional Appointments**
  • Member, First Election Committee of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR
  • Member, Second Election Committee of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR
  • Financial advisor, Tianjin Municipal Government
  • Executive council member, Shanghai Overseas Friendship Association
  • Founding council member, Shanghai Charity Foundation
  • Member, National Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council

• **Arts**
  • Honorary president, Mei Lanfang Peking Opera Art Foundation
  • Council member, China Peking Opera Art Foundation

• **Charity**
  • Director, Hong Kong Kind + Foundation

Honors

• 1995 – “Golden Chrysanthemum Award” from the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China
• 2011 – Honorary Doctorate from the Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Honorary Citizen of Tianjin

Horse Racing

Lee Woo Sing and his sons Lee Tak-lun (William) and Lee Tak-ching (Frankie) were members of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. As early as the mid-to-late 1970s, Lee owned racehorses in Hong Kong, including “Happy Arrival,” “Dragon Fetching Water,” “Lexus,” “Great Tang Glory,” “Golden Bull,” “Great Tang Warrior,” and “Great Tang General.”