Li Youquan

Li Yau‑Chuen CBE (1861 – 9 September 1940), born Li Chiu‑Yuen, was a Hong Kong businessman who dominated the pawnbroking industry in the 1930s, at one time owning over 80 percent of all pawnshops in the city and earning the nickname “Pawnshop King”.

Li was born in Nanhai, Guangdong province (now part of Foshan). As a teenager he came to Hong Kong and apprenticed at a pawnshop, rising to become a leading figure in that trade. He later founded several factories—an ice plant, a machinery works, and a leather factory—and formed a property company in partnership with fellow tycoon Fung Ping Shan.

A philanthropist in his native Nanhai, Li was commended in the late Guangxu era by the Viceroy of Liangguang, Zhang Renjun, and awarded the salt transport magistrate rank with fourth‑grade, three‑generation hereditary first‑class honors. After the founding of the Republic of China he received the Third and Second Class Order of the Golden Grain.

In Hong Kong public affairs, Li served as Director of Tung Wah Hospital in 1897 and became its Permanent Advisor in 1906. He also helped establish Kwong Wah Hospital. In 1912 he was President of Po Leung Kuk, in 1914 a Justice of the Peace, and in 1925 Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. Other roles included Director of the Chinese Public Dispensary, President of Nam Hua Club, and standing magistrate.

During the 1925 Canton–Hong Kowloon strike, as Chamber chairman he successfully lobbied the colonial government to lift the ban on grain exports, negotiated with the National Government in Guangzhou, and hosted Guangdong business delegates in Hong Kong. In recognition, the Governor of Hong Kong recommended to King George V that Li be appointed CBE in 1929.

A strong supporter of education, Li was a founder of the Government Vernacular Middle School (later Queen’s College) in 1926, the first Chinese‑medium public secondary school in Hong Kong, and of the Aberdeen Children’s Industrial Home in 1935.

In June 1932, when government licence fees for pawnshops were raised sharply, many shops struggled financially and Li acquired them, consolidating his control over the market.

References

• “Li Yau‑Chuen – The Pawnshop King,” am730, 26 August 2011.