Gordon Wu

Gordon Wu
Traditional Chinese 胡應湘
Simplified Chinese 胡应湘

Sir Gordon Wu Ying-Sheun,[1] GBS, KCMG, FICE (Chinese: 胡應湘) is a Hong Kong businessman. He is the chairman of the board of Hong Kong-listed Asian infrastructure firm Hopewell Holdings Ltd.

Born in Hong Kong in 1935, Wu has been an advocate for more than two decades for the construction of Asia's largest bridge project linking Hong Kong, Macau and China's Zhuhai city. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project was given support by the PRC government in August 2003.

Since the 1980s, Wu has steered Hopewell Holdings towards developing his vision of creating an advanced transport system for China's manufacturing powerhouse in the Pearl River Delta, which includes much of Guangdong province and makes use of its proximity to Hong Kong to access professional services and logistics.

The bridge will span two man-made islands, allowing it to go through an undersea tunnel and let shipping pass. The concept is based on the existing Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia, United States.

Wu has predicted that commercial development in Hong Kong will focus upon the growth of four major pillar industries including retailing, tourism and logistics. He predicts a diminishing role for the property and textiles industries (source: October 2001, Logistics, Hong Kong Productivity Council).

Gordon Wu designed the first Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project for the China Hotel in 1979, thus 'leading the way' into China. Sir Wu and Hopewell went on to build power plants (Shajiao B and C) and other infrastructure projects in China, using the BOT structure.

Background

Wu studied engineering at the University of Manitoba in 1953, then transferred to Princeton University. Wu graduated from Princeton with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering (B.Sc.Eng.) in 1958, and currently serves as a Trustee for the university. Before that, he attended Wah Yan College, an eminent Jesuit school in Hong Kong.

As one of the founders of Hopewell, he was the managing director from 1972 to 2002. In January 2002, he retired as the managing director of the company but remains as the chairman of the board. He was responsible for Hopewell's infrastructure projects in mainland China and Southeast Asia and has been involved in the design and construction of many buildings and development projects in Hong Kong and mainland China.

In 1984, Wu donated a worth of US$5 million of his company shares to Princeton University and formed a charity fund. Wu also pledged US$100 million to the university, a sum he planned to make available for university use in 2008, on the occasion of his 50th reunion. In a talk given in October 2006, however, Wu revealed intentions of making the contribution available to the university sooner. He completed this pledge, with the last payment in 2006/2007. He is also the chairman of Hopewell Highway Infrastructure Limited, subsidiary of Hopewell listed on August 2003, and an independent non-executive director of i-Cable Communications Limited.

He is Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Political stance

Gordon Wu formerly opposed accelerating the development of democracy in Hong Kong. But following the massive protest on 1 July 2003 in Hong Kong, he openly spoke about the possibility of electing the SAR Chief Executive by direct election.

"A small number of people ... are against everything the SAR government wants to do and against everything that's from the central government. "They are also using such slogans as 'uprising' and 'liberation.' These show they have hidden purposes." (Gordon Wu, 4 March 2010)[2]

Hopewell Holdings

Infrastructure

Hopewell is participating in the investment of five toll road projects with a total length of 360 km, all of which are located in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province in mainland China. Four toll road projects are in operation while construction of the 15 km Phase I of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai West Superhighway (Guangzhou to Shunde section) commenced in December 2001. All of the projects are in the form of co-operative joint ventures between Hopewell and China partners.

Property

Hopewell's property portfolio is mainly composed of commercial and residential premises in Hong Kong. These consist of more than 3.14 million square feet (292,000 m²) of gross area.

Hospitality

Hopewell owns hotels in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Management

Sir Gordon's son, Thomas Jefferson Wu, is the managing director of Hopewell Holdings.

Affiliations

Gordon Wu's affiliations in Hong Kong

Gordon Wu's affiliations in mainland China

Gordon Wu's international affiliations

Honours and awards

Wu received several honours and awards:[1][3]

Honours

Honorary degrees

Honorary citizenships

Other awards

Trivia

Gordon Wu Hall at Princeton University

References

  1. 1 2 Gordon WU Ying-Sheung biography - website of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
  2. ↑ Lee, Diana (5 March 2010), Home truths, The Standard
  3. ↑ Biography of Sir Gordon Wu - website of the Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Hong Kong

External links

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