Dr Yuning Fu obtained his bachelor degree from Dalian Institute of Technology in China and a Ph.D. Degree from Brunel University in the UK. He is presently the Chairman of China Merchants Group Limited, China Merchants Holdings (International), and China Merchants Bank Company Limited. He is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of LI & Fung Limited, Independent Non-Executive Director of CapitaLand Limited in Singapore, and a General Committee Member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.

Dr Fu was previously President and Managing Director of China Nanshan Development (Group) Incorporated, Independent Non-Executive Director of Sino Land. He was also the Chairman of Union Bank of Hong Kong Limited, China Merchants China Direct Investment Limited, China International Marine Containers (Group) and China Merchants Energy Shipping Co., Limited.

Over the past thirty years, the ties between Hong Kong and Guangdong have been elevated from a dynamic manufacturing base built in Pearl River Delta (PRD) with substantial investment from Hong Kong to the formation of a close “front shop, back factory” relationship between the two.

In recent years, particularly after the global financial crisis, the macroeconomic environment has undergone some fundamental changes, which includes the change of Chinese domestic production factors, especially that of labor supply, the decline of consumption in developed countries, and a new distribution of global production. These changes bring challenges to the traditional collaboration model.