Chao Kuang Piu – Hong Kong wool magnate and co-founder of Dragonair

HF: Chao Kuang Piu (24th November 1920 – 12 March 2021) was a Hong Kong based Chinese industrialist, sometimes referred to as Hong Kong’s ”Wool Magnate” given his involvement in Hong Kong’s garment industry. He was one of the co-founders of Dragonair, Hong Kong’s first Chinese owned airline, which was subsequently acquired by Cathay Pacific.

Chao was born on 24th November 1920 in Shanghai. His father was a successful businessman in Shanghai. The family traced its ancestry to Ningbo in the Zhejiang province in China. At the age of 17, he had to quit studies when his mother died and his father was critically ill.

In 1950 Chao went to British Hong Kong to set up his business by importing wool spinning equipment from England  and started his wool spinning factory. He set up the garment and trading company Novel Enterprises in 1964. His career has been noted growing the then nascent Hong Kong textile industry. He expanded his operations overseas into France, Germany, Portugal and the United States through the 1970s. His companies emerged as one of the world’s largest wool enterprises. Chao was one of the first few investors in Mainland China, setting up spinning mills, when the Chinese Economic Reforms led by Deng Xiaoping started in the late 1970s. He was referred to as ”Wool magnate” or ”King of Cotton Yarn” given his success in the industry.

Chao was a cofounder of Dragonair airlines in 1985, with shipping magnate Pao Yue-Kong and Hong Kong based businessman Henry Fok, along with investments from China Merchants Group and China Resources. The carrier was Hong Kong’s first Chinese owned airline. The company was subsequently sold to Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific in 2006. The carrier was subsequently renamed Cathay Dragon in 2016, and ended operations in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.(1)

Source:

1. Wikipedia

This article was first posted on 17th November 2024.

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