Shi Jingyi
Shek King-yee was a renowned publishing figure in Hong Kong and the founder of Hanrong Book Company Limited.
Biography
Shek King-yee's ancestral home was in Nanhai District, Foshan, Guangdong Province. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he studied economics at a university in Guangzhou. A lover of books, he came to Hong Kong from Guangzhou in 1958 and opened a small bookstore. In the 1970s, he founded Hanrong Book Company in Mong Kok, focusing on the sale of secondary school, pre-university, and tertiary level textbooks and reference books. He subsequently established Hanrong Book Company Limited, Tutor Book Distribution Limited, and Tutor Publishing Company Limited, all achieving notable success.
In the early 1980s, he resolutely left his business to fully dedicate himself to promoting cross-strait cultural exchange, advancing Chinese arts, and supporting national educational and cultural endeavors. For over 30 years, Shek traveled across both sides of the Taiwan Strait, using books as bridges and art as vessels, hoping that through cultural integration, peaceful unification across the strait could be realized. He was honored with titles such as "Cultural Envoy of Books," "A Person of Great Merit in Culture," and "The First to Initiate Cross-Strait Cultural Exchange."
Shek King-yee was an Honorary Doctor of Peking University, a member of the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a member of the First Selection Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, a member of the Election Committee for the 9th and 10th National People's Congress (NPC) of Hong Kong SAR, Honorary Director of the China Overseas Friendship Association, Director of Jinan University in Guangzhou, Honorary Chairman of Shaoguan University in Guangdong, and Honorary Professor at Wuhan University.
Shek passed away at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital on October 21, 2007, at the age of 91.
Shek's wife was Lau Tsz-ying. His eldest son, Shek Hon-kei, took over the operations of Hanrong Book Company after his father's death. His second son, Shek Kwok-kei, managed Tutor Publishing Company Limited.