Wu Jicheng
Wu Jicheng, a native of Yunnan, was a Hong Kong entrepreneur, major landlord of the C C Wu Building in Wan Chai, and was known as the "Cotton Yarn King".[1]
Biography
Wu Jicheng was born in Tengchong County, western Yunnan. His grandfather’s generation belonged to a traditional Confucian family. His father and Li Genyuan were both successful candidates in the imperial examination of Yongchang Prefecture. He had four elder relatives who were all scholars, and the extended family lived in a four-generation household. In his youth, Wu frequently read *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, *Dream of the Red Chamber*, *Water Margin*, and *The Story of Yue Fei*, which inspired his generation. He acted with conscience and was kind-hearted and generous.
While in Kunming, Wu studied under industrialist Miao Yuntai and nurtured a strong sense of national and ethnic identity. After the end of World War II, in 1946, Wu Jicheng relocated his family from Kunming to Hong Kong. He purchased a piece of land in Wan Chai as a business base and founded Sui Shing International Trading Co., Ltd., specializing in cotton and cotton yarn trade. He developed a Southeast Asian supply network for cotton yarn, establishing subsidiaries in Vietnam, India, Myanmar, Thailand, etc. Cotton was sourced from countries such as Pakistan and Egypt to supply Hong Kong textile factories. At that time, Hong Kong’s textile industry was thriving, with numerous factories. More than 300 Shanghainese and Cantonese manufacturers were among his clients. He sold tens of thousands of bales of cotton and cotton yarn annually, thereby establishing his business and becoming a successful industrialist in Hong Kong.
In 1980, Wu built a commercial building on his company's land in Wan Chai. The building was completed in 1983 and named the "C C Wu Building", serving as a rental investment property.
Family
Wu Jicheng had a daughter, Wu Chung-lam, and a son, Francis Ng Tat-kwong.
Titles
- Chairman of the C C Wu Cultural and Educational Foundation
- Former President of the Yunnan Hong Kong Fellowship Association
- Chairman of Sui Shing Co., Ltd., Hong Kong
- Honorary President of the Yunnan Overseas Exchange Association
- Advisor to the Yunnan Provincial Government