The “King of Highways”: Celebrating Hong Kong industrialist Gordon Wu’s legacy

Born in Wan Chai as the seventh of nine children, Wu grew up admiring his father, Wu Chung, a taxi driver who built his own fleet and later launched the Central Taxicab Company. “He really was an entrepreneur,” said Wu. “I remember when I was a young kid, I would wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning, and my father was already gone to work.”

His early work ethic was partly shaped by a desire to honour his father’s sacrifices. “He was able to put us through to top US universities for education...I felt that I had to work very, very hard to repay his support for all of us,” he added.

Wu launched Hopewell Holdings in 1972 and made his first visit to the mainland that year. Following China’s economic reforms and re-opening in 1978, he was among the earliest developers to invest in the nation’s potential. Wu built and financed a vast portfolio of real estate, power stations, highways, tunnels, and bridges, knitting together the connectivity now seen throughout the Greater Bay Area.

Hopewell Holdings’ debut project on the mainland, the China Hotel in Guangzhou, opened in 1984 as one of the country’s first five-star hotels. It was also the first major development to incorporate the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model pioneered by Wu, a then-novel financing structure that allowed a private developer to build, run, and eventually hand back major assets to the state.

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More importantly, the hotel inspired Wu to build the infrastructure that would come to define his legacy. While operating the 1,200-room China Hotel, he learned that the city’s electricity bureau would have to cut supply on certain days. “I say, I don’t expect our paying guests to walk up 18 floors,” he recalled. When officials then offered to reroute another district’s power to him for an extra charge, he saw the opportunity to meet the rising demand for electricity across the region. Wu started construction at the nearby Shajiao power complex in Guangdong, including the Shajiao B station, which began operations in 1987, and Shajiao C, in 1996.

Pressed by Chan on whether focusing on property development in Hong Kong would have made him considerably wealthier, Wu agreed that he could have probably made “more money,” but “there’s only so much money you need”.

“If you do real estate in Hong Kong, 50 years later, nobody will remember you,” said Chan. “You do what you did, and 50 years later, in the history book, they will still talk about Gordon Wu.”

“The most important thing is, real estate is not always making money,” replied Wu. “Real estate comes in cycles. Therefore, you’ve got to be careful. But if you build something that is really what people want, that is very safe.”

Core to Wu’s identity is his training as a civil engineer. Shortly after graduating from Princeton in 1958, Wu named his company after the small town of Hopewell adjacent to his alma mater. Notably, as a proud alum, he donated US$100 million to the university’s School of Engineering and Applied Science in 2003.

Still, Wu adopts a humble tone when sharing his Ivy League credentials. “I was a C-plus student,” he said, on the subject of his grades; at least the plus, he quipped, “shows potential.” The school that taught him the most came afterward: “It is called the University of Hard Knocks. That is open to everybody.”

“What I say is that it doesn’t matter which university you go to,” added Wu. “The ultimate judgement is, how good are you? How willing are you to work?”

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While Wu speaks with a level of energy impressive for his age, he does not broadcast grand ambitions for new projects. Instead, he takes a historian’s view of his career, and during the fireside chat, appears to enjoy sharing his views on the rise and fall of nations: America, he observed, built its wealth over the 160 years since the Civil War, while China has grown rapidly in the 40 years since its re-opening. “The rate of growth for China is phenomenal,” he added, “because they serve every people in the world.”

“I am very optimistic about the future of China...because these are the people who really work hard,” said Wu.

Driven by his indefatigable spirit and eye for impact, Wu’s accomplishments have been recognised many times over: he received the Gold Bauhinia Star from the Hong Kong government in 2004, a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) from Queen Elizabeth II, decorations from Belgium and Croatia, and ten honorary doctorates from universities around the world.

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For young people wondering what to do with their lives, Wu’s advice returns to the recurring theme of hard work. “Opportunities are always there,” he said. “The question is whether you can catch it.” That, he suggests, comes back to preparing yourself on every front.

“The world is full of good things, bad things, mediocre things. You’ve really got to observe and make up your own mind,” said Wu. “You’ve got to study hard, learn hard, so that you have all the facts and be able to make the best judgement. This is how you’ll be able to really steer yourself into happiness.”

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