Analysis | How four generations left their mark in Li & Fung

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

Li & Fung’s story -- its establishment, growth, prosperity and future challenges -- is Hong Kong’s history writ small. Here’s how four generations of one of the city’s most storied families left their mark on Hong Kong.

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Li & Fung Group Chief Executive Officer Spencer Fung attends 2016 Annual Results in Lai Chi Kok. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Eric Ng

Published: 8:15am, 1 Apr 2017Updated: 8:24pm, 27 Jun 2018

Li & Fung was founded in 1906 in Guangzhou by entrepreneurs Li To-ming and Fung Pak-liu, the great-grandfather of the current chief executive Spencer Fung, as one of the first solely Chinese-funded companies to engage in direct exports from China.

From a startup focusing on exporting Chinese porcelain, silk, rattan ware, handicrafts and fireworks to the West, the company has morphed into a multinational with 22,000 employees in over 250 offices and distribution centres in more than 40 markets in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Last year it sourced 65 per cent of its revenue from apparels and 35 per cent from hard goods such as furniture, toys and home ware.

Li & Fung's office in 40's and 50's, an old photo of Li & Fung's headquarters in Guangzhou. Photo: Li & Fung

The United States contributed 64 per cent of its turnover, compared to 17 per cent by Europe, 12 per cent by Asia and 7 per cent from the rest of the world.

In 1937, Fung sent his second son Fung Hon-chu, to set up an operation in Hong Kong to handle the shipping of its goods.

In the four decades since, Li & Fung prospered along with Hong Kong’s growth into a manufacturing and export hub while mainland China, ravaged by war and revolution, turned inwards. The company became one of the city’s largest exporters of garments, toys, electronics and plastic flowers.