T he Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, was born in Shanghai on May 29, 1937, to shippingbusinessman Tung Chao Yung and Koo Lee Ching. He has a brother and threesisters.

M r Tung came to Hong Kong with his family in 1947 when he was 10. Afterfinishing secondary school in Hong Kong, he studied in the UK and graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Engineering.

F or the next decade or so, Mr Tung worked for General Electric and his family's business in the United States before returning to Hong Kong in 1969 to join his father in managing the family's group business.

T he group was one of the world's largest container, dry bulk and tanker operators. Although the shipping industry went into a deep global recession in the 1980s, the group sailed through the period with hard work and ingenious financial restructuring which revitalised the business and re-established it firmly today at the forefront of the industry. In 1996, Mr Tung stood for election as the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. He was elected by a wide margin on December 11 and was formally appointed as Chief Executive on December 16,1996.

M r Tung was Vice-Chairman of the then Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a Hong Kong Affairs Adviser to the People's Republic of China. He sat on the Eighth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He served on the Executive Council of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1996 and was a Member of the Basic Law Consultative Committee. He served as the Honorary Consul of Monaco in Hong Kong between 1982 and 1996.

H e was Chairman of the Hong Kong / United States Economic Co-operation Committee and a Member of the Hong Kong/Japan Business Co-operation Committee. He also served as an International Councillor of the Washington-based research and policy institute, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. He was a Member of the Advisory Council of the Institute for International Studies of Stanford University, the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institute on War, Revolution and Peace - a research and policy institute based in Stanford, California.

M r Tung was Chairman of the Council of the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Shipowners Association and the Hong Kong Management Association. Outside his own business he has held non- executive directorships of a number of companies including the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Sing Tao Holdings Ltd, and was a Member of the International Advisory Board of the American International Group Inc. He is patron of some 50 public and charitable organisations.

M r Tung has been married to Betty Chiu Hung Ping since 1961. They have three children and six grandchildren, all of whom live in Hong Kong.

I n his rare private moments, Mr Tung is an avid reader. His areas of interest include biographies, history, economics and international affairs. He is also a keen sports fan. His years in Liverpool and the US left him a knowledgeable fan of soccer, basketball and American football and he tunes into games whenever he can. He also enjoys hiking, Tai Chi and swimming. His favourite pastime is spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.

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