Li Ka-shing was born on July 29 to a scholarly family in the ancient city of Chaozhou in eastern Guangdong Province, China. His father Li Yunjing was a primary school principal
When Japanese troops invaded Chaozhou in 1939, factories were closed and schools were suspended. In the winter of 1940, Li Yunjing fled his native land with his family to avoid the perils of war. They arrived in Hong Kong, which also fell under Japanese occupation in the early 1940s.
The Li family faced a hard life in Hong Kong as the economy collapsed under Japanese occupation. Li Ka-shing’s mother returned to Chaozhou with her younger son and daughter, while Li Ka-shing and his father stayed in Hong Kong. Li Yunjing contracted tuberculosis and was hospitalized. With little medical treatment available, he passed away. Li Ka-shing was then forced to take up a full-time job in a watch strap company to support his family.
Li Ka-shing became a wholesale salesman in a plastics watch strap company on Ko Shing Street, toiling for 16 hours a day. A firm believer that knowledge can reshape destiny, Li Ka-shing learned not only the ins and outs of the plastics industry, but also continued to study on his own by buying used textbooks.
At the age of 22, Li Ka-shing decided that it was time to start his own business. With start-up capital of HK$50,000 from his savings and money he borrowed from friends and relatives, Li Ka-shing founded Cheung Kong Plastics Company, named after the great Yangtze River, whose amalgamated network of smaller streams reflected his belief in the power of combined efforts. He made a pr1957
In the beginning, Li Ka-shing focused on making plastic toys and daily household products, as they were durable and