This is from June 26 2026 video, Sir Gordon Wu receives Asia Society Hong Kong's Game Changer Award
Sir Gordon Wu, Founder and Chairman of Hopewell Holdings, was honored with the Asia Society Hong Kong Game Changer Award on June 18, 2026. Presented by The Hon John KC Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the award recognizes visionary leaders, organizations, and movements that are shaping a better future for Asia.
Following the ceremony, Sir Gordon engaged in a fireside chat with Mr. Ronnie C. Chan, Chairman of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Together, they reflected on Sir Gordon’s remarkable journey—from his pioneering contributions to Hong Kong’s urban development to his enduring role in supporting Mainland China’s transformation since the era of reform and opening-up. <<<<<<<><><>******<><><>>>>>>>
Why do you get into infrastructures and mainland China? I mean they were really backward in those days.
Well, there's one reason very simple reason. I never believe China Chinese people should be so poor, because you know sitting in Hong Kong I was terrified by Mao Zedong's slogans down with the class enemy and you know I say that unless and until they have a better living when they come to Hong Kong; which they will 1997, although at that time it seems like light years away but you got to be prepared and I always was nervous in Hong Kong and then when Tanga say open reform
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and I couldn't understand it because last week it was still down with the class enemy3分钟39秒钟
and yet now you come and invest so I study study his speech and all of a sudden I say ah nothing new3分钟48秒钟
under the son and I say this is a great opportunity for China because Dang Xiaoping game3分钟56秒钟
changer he's a game changer right and we got to support him and he said that it is glorious to get wealthy first for some4分钟5秒钟
so I analyzed why is China so poor4分钟12秒钟
there's a Scotsman called Adam Smith yes and he say you know go ahead that is division of labor4分钟21秒钟
and what you wanted to do is reward the people who can build the the best mouse trap.4分钟28秒钟
Now the Marxist land principle is different. It's all central planning.4分钟36秒钟
Central planning central planning it doesn't matter. The state tells calls the tune and everybody4分钟42秒钟
has to to to do that. So when you when you look at communism is not the best use of4分钟50秒钟
talents, resources or capital and there's no way you can fight it because each individual in a4分钟59秒钟
capitalistic system is a little engine all round roughing up 10,000 RPM5分钟6秒钟
and communism you get 36 whether you work or not is all 36. 6.5分钟15秒钟
But Dango Ping is going to change that.5分钟17秒钟
He said two things. Black cat, white cat.5分钟21秒钟
Catch mouse is a quick cat, right? And he also said let a few people get rich first, right?5分钟28秒钟
And he was then trying to make a little exper experiment. He declared four5分钟35秒钟
places as a special economic zone. And the first and the most important one, Samchan.5分钟42秒钟
Samchan north of the border. So I went to Samchan.5分钟47秒钟
I was invited to Shamjan by the first party secretary.5分钟52秒钟
The first party secretary. Party secretary. Oh yes. Yeah.5分钟56秒钟
And he asked me uh you know I got this assignment. I really don't know what's going to happen.6分钟4秒钟
I say what does central government give you? He say try to copy Hong Kong's success.6分钟13秒钟
Try to you know improve the livelihood of the people.6分钟19秒钟
And the object he said 700,000 people and I take a look at that. I say if6分钟28秒钟
you're genuine you're going to have 7 million.6分钟32秒钟
Wow. If you're not genuine, you will not achieve 700,000.6分钟39秒钟
And they say, "What's the most important thing to be able to push it through?" I say, "Taxation." Taxation.6分钟46秒钟
Taxation. Or the lack of it. Or the lack thereof. Yeah. Okay. Got it. Right. Right. Taxation is a key thing.6分钟54秒钟
People always go to places where there's a tax holiday or low taxation. Like Hong Kong. like Hong Kong.7分钟3秒钟
Brilliant.7分钟4秒钟
Well, simple that Sunjan declares a special song that the taxation is the same as Hong Kong. And for a lot of investments, they give us tax holidays.7分钟18秒钟
So after they say that, then I told them that you got to have your border crossing7分钟24秒钟
much improved. So I designed and built the7分钟34秒钟
right so that people can go in and come out easily so that the trucks and not the buses.7分钟43秒钟
Yeah. And private cars can go across.7分钟46秒钟
And then later on I even uh when I noticed that they don't have a nice hotels I round up7分钟55秒钟
the big tycoons of Hong Kong. At that time I was the youngest and the smallest to potato and I explained that you know8分钟4秒钟
that we Hong Kong people should show support because they are going to be our masters. And I found out one thing that8分钟11秒钟
we can invest with guarantee without losing money and that is invest a nice8分钟17秒钟
hotel in Kongcha. I say the clientele is for the Hong Kong and overseas people. It's not the locals.8分钟26秒钟
There was one guy in Hong Kong that did not join. That was my late father.8分钟35秒钟
But anyway, so I explained this thing that you know we got to do something to show that our support and this is but I8分钟43秒钟
said on the other hand communism believe in everything owned by the state. But I say you can have we can own it for some8分钟53秒钟
time and then give them the thing called B system.8分钟56秒钟
B bill operate transfer right? So far so good. But then how the9分钟4秒钟
heck did you get into infrastructures like power plants and super highway? You9分钟11秒钟
you you have sort of left real estate relegated to secondary interest for your company. Well, I did actually when I was9分钟20秒钟
building China hotel, the city electrical bureaus told me that they would have to stop supplying on9分钟29秒钟
certain days. Ho something say that means supplying for three days and then four days no electricity9分钟37秒钟
only three days have electricity per week. A certain hours they got to cut it.9分钟42秒钟
Certain hours cut. Okay. I say I don't expect our paying guest to walk up 18 floors9分钟51秒钟
although it might good for your body but it's not pleasant.9分钟56秒钟
So I say, "Well, this is is going to be no good." And they say, "Yes, we can do something. We can route out another10分钟5秒钟
district's electricity for you." Extra charge. Extra charge.10分钟10秒钟
Extra charge. I say, "Ah, that's capitalism." Capitalism.10分钟16秒钟
So I say, "This is reform." Reform a cost you more. when I saw the need for electricity. Now I have never gone10分钟25秒钟
inside a power station but when I see the people that that need this thing I say okay let's do it and that's how I10分钟33秒钟
got started. I went to England. I went to Japan trying to find out what power stations are like. Get out my physics10分钟43秒钟
2011 book and try to understand the thermodynamics, right?10分钟49秒钟
And boy, it was a learning curve. But anyway, I worked it out. The Japanese applied the machinery. We do the civil10分钟57秒钟
works and we did it the first one world record time. 22 months. I turned out the11分钟4秒钟
first electricity 22 months.11分钟7秒钟
Yeah. Still a world record. I organized the civil people work 24 hours and why they would like to work 24 hours.11分钟16秒钟
You give them more money. More money.11分钟20秒钟
That means you know the money is not for the state organization. It's down to the people on the side. So after that I have11分钟28秒钟
very bit conf every bit of confidence about the guong gong people they work11分钟34秒钟
out I mean how how can the people after they cross over the sunzhen river they11分钟42秒钟
become so good it's because the system doesn't allow them to work and this is where the beauty of dango ping's11分钟51秒钟
open door reform let people do their best which is exactly what Adams Smith said 200 300 years ago.12分钟
So capitalistic has its virtues and has his evils12分钟8秒钟
because when too much money in the hands of too few people this is no good and the western world be able to do to12分钟16秒钟
alleviate the problem by taxation. So that you tax the rich people and use that money to support the poorer people12分钟24秒钟
on for instance education, social welfare and all that. So it's always a case of balance.12分钟32秒钟
But let's talk about China 40 odd years and look at what they have achieved.12分钟40秒钟
They are now number two in the world.12分钟43秒钟
They're number one production of cars, steels, bridges, highways. I mean, I've seen all that. So, that was history. But12分钟51秒钟
tonight, what I wanted to do later on is to give the audience here my prediction about the future.12分钟59秒钟
What's your prediction of the future?13分钟1秒钟
Where should I invest next? Or rather, where should my son invest next?13分钟6秒钟
I am very optimistic about the future of China. Why?13分钟13秒钟
Because these are the people who really work hard. They work hard. Yes.13分钟18秒钟
And they were given an opportunity to work hard, right?13分钟23秒钟
You see, when you want to have an economy going, as I said, the first important, most important thing, no war, no war.13分钟34秒钟
If there's a war going on, you know, nobody will be able to do anything.13分钟39秒钟
You got to have the technology which comes from education. You got to have the resources. You got to have the13分钟46秒钟
capital and China is slowly accumulating that. Now we can look at history. The13分钟55秒钟
Song and Ming dynasties, China was number one.13分钟59秒钟
Yeah. all the way to the mid mid change and until the Scotsman like James Watt14分钟7秒钟
and all these other people Newton they figure out the industrial revolution and they were able to corner that for about 200 years.14分钟17秒钟
Yes.14分钟17秒钟
Then came the Americans and the Americans are able to do that because they welcome everybody to the uh country.14分钟28秒钟
Brilliant.14分钟30秒钟
But now America is different because Donald Trump wants to make America great again.14分钟40秒钟
He not only he's trying to make America great again, he's going to dominate the world. Wow.14分钟47秒钟
He wanted to say Venezuela, your oil is mine.14分钟52秒钟
Iran, your oil is mine. Canada, you should be 50 first state of the United States. You're lucky to be there and I want Greenland.15分钟2秒钟
Greenland. Okay. Right. Uh-huh.15分钟6秒钟
So my prediction is that from a chi old Chinese bingu15分钟12秒钟
the the book of fighting from that book very simple. The old15分钟21秒钟
confusion thing is change your weapons into jade. And so and the Bible say turn the swords into plowshars, right?15分钟29秒钟
Yep. That's what it says.15分钟31秒钟
Let's do a little analysis or uh expenses on defense.15分钟38秒钟
China on a per capita basis is $177 per person. Japan is 504. UK is $1,159.15分钟51秒钟
USA this year is two 2,600 and our schoolmate Peter Hass he went to16分钟
Princeton for goodness sake he asked for 1.5 trillion for next year's budget16分钟9秒钟
which is $4,000 per person now why the hell you need all this money16分钟16秒钟
and why you need 128 overseas bases except you know you want to conquer the whole wide world.16分钟24秒钟
So for China they don't care what the hell happens they work hard and you will see about16分钟32秒钟
six 700 million people pull our poverty and they become number one in the world16分钟39秒钟
as a manufacturing center. They want to work for other people and they want to work for the world instead of trying to conquer them and conquest cost money.16分钟52秒钟
And so that's my prediction that China will be very successful. They don't want war.17分钟1秒钟
True. China and Hong Kong is very fortunate because we are under their protection17分钟8秒钟
and we have our own legal system. the common law.17分钟13秒钟
So we have the best of two worlds which is very sad. America was able to17分钟20秒钟
be so successful because they accept all commerce.17分钟25秒钟
After 1865, the finish of the American Civil War, America concentrated on building their17分钟34秒钟
economy. They build railways. They build factories. Well, a lot of Chinese labor17分钟41秒钟
and the Italians and the Irish and the Chinese and the uh Cubans whatever people go to there the American dream.17分钟50秒钟
Now when we were in America study their economy was like this. But now you know the average people their center of17分钟58秒钟
living is not getting better. Whereas in China they are getting better and better.18分钟4秒钟
So that's why I my predict I'm very confident about the future of China. Now I I hope I'm right because when I was18分钟14秒钟
predicting that China will be doing okay when Dango Ping say open door. I bet on China18分钟22秒钟
and you're still betting on China. Well, of course, if I stay in Hong Kong, I probably make more money, but I think18分钟30秒钟
Well, you know, there's only so much money you need.18分钟34秒钟
Well, let me let me can I turn back to you, uh, Gordon, a lot of people are interested, not because not everybody18分钟41秒钟
have the opportunity to meet you and spend time with you. So, can I ask you a very blunt questions? Uh, you diverted a18分钟50秒钟
lot of your attention to infrastructure in mainland China. Can I assume that they are overall profitable?18分钟58秒钟
Oh yeah. Oh, they are profitable.19分钟2秒钟
Which is the most profitable? The the power plant or the superighway or the hotel?19分钟7秒钟
The most profitable ventures are real estate in Hong Kong in those days.19分钟12秒钟
Oh, real estate in Hong Kong is more profitable.19分钟14秒钟
More profitable. But I thought that if I do something like this, the margins are19分钟22秒钟
smaller. But the volumes are bigger right we are talking about you know tens and billions of dollars tens of billions of19分钟30秒钟
dollars you mean if you do to roads and to all that and all that we got the support of all the bankers because I saw19分钟38秒钟
that they are willing to lend money they want to make sure that I can repay19分钟45秒钟
and I did the studies on all the developments of super highways right their daily profit autobonds19分钟55秒钟
the US interstate system and the uh all the string in in Italy20分钟3秒钟
they spend a lot of money uh maintaining that because they don't build the best roads20分钟10秒钟
therefore when I was doing in China I insist on building very good road otherwise your maintenance will kill you20分钟18秒钟
so I explained all this to China and It worked out fine. I made some money.20分钟24秒钟
So, you make a lot of money. Yesterday, you and I were talking and no, wherever whatever it was, we figured that even20分钟33秒钟
uh some of the 30-year contract uh that you have is yet to be returned to uh China. Uh so, you still own that and you're still collecting. Am I right?20分钟44秒钟
Right.20分钟45秒钟
Okay. But you also mentioned that if you had done real estate in Hong Kong, you would have made more money than what you have done in mainland China.20分钟54秒钟
Right?20分钟54秒钟
The only difference is that if you do do real estate in Hong Kong, uh 50 years later, nobody will remember you. You do what you do 50 years later in the21分钟3秒钟
history book, they will still talk about Gordon Woo.21分钟5秒钟
Well, in 50 years time, it doesn't matter to me because I will be gone. But the most important thing is real estate is not always making money.21分钟17秒钟
Real estate comes in cycles. Therefore, you got to be careful.21分钟24秒钟
But if you serve something, build something that is what really people want, then is very safe.21分钟46秒钟
Fore! Foreign! Foreign!21分钟58秒钟
Fore!22分钟19秒钟
Fore!chch!22分钟44秒钟
Foreign23分钟33秒钟
forchech.24分钟3秒钟
Fore24分钟24秒钟
speech.24分钟28秒钟
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speech.
