An eastern man of port power
Turning 80 this July, Li Ka-shing has done more to revolutionise container terminals than just about anyone else. He has also been at the forefront of the fortunes of both Hong Kong and Shanghai ports.
Born in Guangdong province, Mr Li started out selling plastic flowers. He became the first man of Chinese descent to head up a hong, one of Hong Kong's famous conglomerates when he bought Hutchison Whampoa. As the richest businessman in Asia (US$26.5bn: Forbes) ports has long been his most consistent form of revenues.
Hutchison Port Holdings is the largest terminal operator in the world, largest in Hong Kong and with three separate facilities in Shanghai, where it first invested in 1993, it is the second most powerful operator there after Shanghai International Port Group. Ironically, it is also Superman, as Hong Kongers affectionately refer to the über capitalist, who has precipitated the demise of Hong Kong port, with his huge investments across the border in Yantian, eastern Shenzhen, which is now a more efficient terminal than Kwai Tsing in Hong Kong.Shenzhen was the vehicle used by Deng Xiaopeng to open up China to capitalism. "Poverty is not socialism. To be rich is glorious," he said back in 1978. The economic liberalisation of Shenzhen and Guangdong province in the 1980s did not spread north to Shanghai until 1991.
Images for this article - click to enlarge
Unless otherwise stated, all images copyright © Mercator Media 2012. This does not exclude the owner's assertion of copyright over the material.
