Dr Che-woo Lui was born in Jiangmen, China in 1929. He established the first K. Wah company in Hong Kong in the 1950s. He is currently Chairman of K. Wah Group. Its major member companies include K. Wah International Holdings Limited (Stock code: 173.HK), Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited (Stock code: 27.HK), Stanford Hotels International Limited and K. Wah Construction Materials Limited. Today, K. Wah has developed into a multi-national conglomerate involving properties, entertainment and leisure, hospitality, and construction materials with over 200 subsidiaries and more than 20,000 employees in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Macau, North America and Southeast Asia.

Dr Lui is a pioneer in Hong Kong construction materials industry. In the 1960s, he embarked on property investments. In the 1980s, he set his sights on hotel development. In the 1990s, Dr Lui expanded his business into Mainland China. In 2002, he ventured into Macau’s gaming business and is now one of the six gaming concessionaries in Macau where he aims at developing world class travel, leisure, shopping, meeting, convention, exhibition and entertainment facilities.

A distinguished philanthropist, Dr Lui has been particularly supportive of the development of medical care and education. He was Chairman of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in 1981-1982. In 1999, Dr Lui provided funds for the Stanford University Medical Centre to set up Lui Che Woo Research Laboratory. He also holds important posts in various tertiary institutions including Founding Honorary Patron of The University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research, Member of the Board of Trustees of United College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Honorary Member of the Court of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Member of the Court of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Life Honorary Chairman of Wuyi University Board of Trustees, Honorary Dean of Business Faculty of Yangzhou University, and Member of the Board of Directors of Fudan University. In 2002, the Dr Lui Che Woo Awards for CUHK/Cornell Student Exchange Programme in Hospitality Management was established to facilitate academic exchanges of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management. In 2005, an initiative in support of the reconstruction and refurbishment of 122 schools in underprivileged regions across the Mainland was committed through The Ministry of Education. In 2006, a fund was set up at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for academic research and scholarship for outstanding students. In 2008, donations were pledged in support of the Mainland’s university students in rural to complete their four to five years’ degree programmes via Virya Foundation, and for the renovation and expansion of a centenary building at Fudan University , as well as the development of a new Beijing campus for the China Europe International Business School. In 2010, donations were made to The University of Hong Kong for the building of a law library in the Centennial Campus and to the University of Macau in support of the new campus development in Hengqin, Zhuhai.