Peaks Or Valleys of the Times” and Whether It’S Ing, Real Economic Growth Is Limited

CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Friday, September 4, 2020 GBAFOCUS | GBA3 Antony Leung Kam-chung (left) was at the bell Leung often attends seminars and lectures to encourage Hong Kong businessmen, ringing ceremony when New Frontier Corp went professionals and young people to proactively participate in and promote the development public at the New York Stock Exchange in 2018. of the Bay Area. Capital moves business to HK’s delight We may be living in an uncertain and volatile world, but former financial secretary of Hong Kong Antony Keeping competitive Leung Kam-chung says the city will ride it out. He in ‘peaks or valleys tells He Shusi that the SAR will become even more appealing to investment capital worldwide. of the times’ hatever the ups and downs in the Shoot for new economy By HE SHUSI in Hong Kong entrepreneurial world, capital is New Frontier Group’s subsidiary, New Frontier [email protected] still king and delivers business. Corp, acquired United Family Healthcare — one That’s the key takeaway of Antony of the largest private healthcare operators on In 2018, Nan Fung Group fully funded the Nan Fung Group — one of Hong Kong’s oldest business conglom- LeungW Kam-chung on today’s turbulence, who the mainland — late last year for $1.3 billion Hong Kong Life Sciences Society (HKLSS), erates founded by legendary textile magnate Chen Din-hwa — is an has more than four decades under his belt as a from parties that included a liates of US-based chaired by the group’s Managing Director enterprise of the times. and COO Vincent Cheung Sai-sing, with banker, public servant, fi nancial strategist and TPG Capital and Shanghai-headquartered Fosun The group, now headed by former Hong Kong fi nancial chief Leung and leading scientists as board entrepreneur. Pharmaceutical. Antony Leung Kam-chung as chairman and CEO, has been proac- governors. And Hong Kong, trapped in the middle of the Following the deal, the combined company’s tively plowing investments into the fi eld of biotechnology in recent geopolitical ti between the world’s two biggest initial market capitalization was put at approxi- online business has placed the world in unpre- years, and is boosting collaboration with universities across the economies, should emerge relatively unscathed mately $1.4 billion. In the past three years, New dictable anxieties and challenges, together with mega Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — a turf whatever way the wrangling goes, he believes. Frontier has invested more than HK$15 billion in opportunities. Nan Fung has long been associated with. The special administrative region should be healthcare services across the mainland. Nan Fung burst onto Hong Kong’s business arena in 1954 and able to conquer the odds and stay competitive With United Family Healthcare under its Keep hoping in uncertainties became synonymous with its fi rst major private housing estate, Nan as an essential global fi nancial hub, and become umbrella, the group now operates 18 hospitals, He calls the future world “VUCA” —volatile, Fung Sun Chuen, in Quarry Bay. The company has always kept pace even more appealing to investment capital world- 18 clinics, and 45 community nursing centers. It uncertain, complex and ambiguous — terms that with the times in investment, Leung said. Besides developing local wide. aims to coordinate with the mainland’s medical allude to a turbulent, uncontrollable business real estate, the group has extended its tentacles overseas, setting up “After all, capital goes after profi ts,” Leung, a reforms to provide people with quality health- environment. Along with the progress of science investment teams in San Francisco and Shanghai, aiming for a slice former currency trader and banker who served care services, Leung said. and technology, as well as the impact of globaliza- of the biotechnology pie. for more than two years from 2001 as fi nancial United Family Healthcare operates two gener- tion, countries are crazily printing money, and the To date, the company has sunk some $1 billion into more than secretary under the SAR’s fi rst chief executive al hospitals in the Bay Area — one in Guangzhou, world is trending from the two poles in the past 50 biotech fi rms worldwide, covering company incubation, venture Tung Chee-hwa, said. which kicked o operations last year — and the to today’s multi-polarity. capital, growth period investment, and open market investment. In the United States, a capitalist society, capi- other in the heart of Shenzhen’s Futian district, “Global competition and development are Nan Fung is also teaming up with institutions of higher learning tal is beyond politics, and impacts politics, said right next to the high-speed rail station that becoming more complex and changeable, and the in the Bay Area, funding basic research on biotech, cultivating tal- Leung, who’s now back in the private business connects Hong Kong and the rest of the region. disparity between the rich and the poor among ented professionals and enhancing exchanges between Hong Kong sector, helming Nan Fung Group — one of Hong They’ll become convenient alternative medical di erent countries, as well as people, is increas- and the mainland in the sector. Kong’s most prominent real estate, shipping and facilities for patients and doctors from Hong ingly serious,” Leung said. “This is the reason for Through investment in life science and technology, support for fi nancial services conglomerates. Kong when the Bay Area operates under full the emergence of a VUCA world.” scientifi c research and talent cultivation, as well as strategic invest- “Capital seeks investment benefi ts,” he said in a steam, Leung said. “Unfortunately, the disparity may continue, and ment in healthcare through New Frontier Group of which Leung is interview with China Daily. Many mainland residents have confi dence in get wider and wider. The future world will only be a co-founder and chairman, Nan Fung hopes to create a unifi ed and Drawing a comparison, Leung said that Hong Kong’s medical services but, unfortunately, increasingly VUCA.” mutually echoing life science and healthcare ecosystem, Leung said. although the US stock market seems to be boom- the SAR has limited land as well as hospital In a world of upheaval, 2020 has been tough, Regardless of the “peaks or valleys of the times” and whether it’s ing, real economic growth is limited. On the capacity. especially for young graduates and entrepreneurs. on the banking, politics, education or investment battlegrounds, contrary, China’s real economy is growing faster The future United Family hospital in Shen- Leung urged Hong Kong people to regard it as a the veteran investor said he strives to retain his competitiveness than that of the US. Therefore, if US funds go after zhen can meet the demand of mainland custom- gap year, and use the time to broaden their hori- in various fi elds through constant learning, reading and thinking. potentially value-added investment, they will con- ers, and residents in the Bay Area can access zons and learn more about the developments on Learning times have been fi xed internally at both Nan Fung and tinue to look to China to have their fi nger on the Hong Kong’s high-end medical services without the mainland. New Frontier Group via seminars, case studies or “reading parties”. pulse in the growing Chinese market. having to cross the boundary, Leung noted. Noting that the SAR government has been As an avid reader, Leung said he had chosen three books to read With China’s foreign exchange controls in place, The vast mainland market also allows for dishing out billions of dollars in relief measures to along with colleagues, including The Great Infl uenza: The Story of Hong Kong will continue to be an open and favor- cheaper imported drugs. For instance, the prices help put local enterprises and the disadvantaged the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry. able channel for foreign capital to penetrate the of some cancer drugs on the mainland are about back on track, Leung hopes the government will The urge came from COVID-19, which o ered people the time to vast mainland market, he said. half or less than those in Hong Kong, Leung said, consider setting up a special fund for youths seek- review and learn from the past, he reckoned. The book also helps “The spat between China and the US this adding that this had made Hong Kong-standard ing internships on the mainland, and get them to people to understand the changes and impact a pandemic of such time, nevertheless, will inevitably hit Hong Kong medical services on the mainland attractive to know more about Hong Kong’s most important a scale can infl ict on the community. to some degree. But, from my perspective, our Hong Kong patients. market. “Plenty of human knowledge and experience is often accumu- long-established fi nancial center status won’t be According to Leung, besides healthcare, glob- “Young people should open up their minds. Life lated under these catastrophes. In history, it’s often through war, altered by some momentary fl uctuations,” Leung al capital would be chasing after other assets is long. Don’t be discouraged by di culties in one plagues and major technological advances to change the world and said. that included precious metals and real estate, or two years. Adjust your mentality and use the human history,” Leung said. The logic is simple — the SAR prides itself on especially those located in places where talents time to improve yourself,” is his message for the The other two books are What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of a common law system, as well as institutions gather.

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