---
title: "From Asia's Sugar King to an Industrial Empire: The Rise of the Tycoon Behind the $10 Billion Arawana"
description: "Arawana, often perceived as a domestic Chinese brand, is actually owned by Yihai Kerry, a foreign-invested company preparing for an A-share IPO. The article traces the history of its parent company's founder, Robert Kuok, from his early days in the sugar trade to building a vast empire spanning palm oil, hotels, and real estate."
author: "产融人士的加油站"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2019-04-02"
language: "en"
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---

# From Asia's Sugar King to an Industrial Empire: The Rise of the Tycoon Behind the $10 Billion Arawana

> Arawana, often perceived as a domestic Chinese brand, is actually owned by Yihai Kerry, a foreign-invested company preparing for an A-share IPO. The article traces the history of its parent company's founder, Robert Kuok, from his early days in the sugar trade to building a vast empire spanning palm oil, hotels, and real estate.

Source: Poker Investor (ID: puoketrader)

In most people's perception, Arawana has always been a domestic Chinese brand, but in reality, the Arawana brand belongs to Yihai Kerry, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise. Moreover, this company is preparing to list on the A-share market!

[Image] Arawana brand series (Image source: Baidu)

On February 28, the Shanghai Securities Regulatory Bureau disclosed that Yihai Kerry intends to apply for an initial A-share listing. This also means that Arawana has officially embarked on the road to an A-share listing. According to news from last December, Yihai Kerry's current valuation exceeds $10 billion.

Today's Yihai Kerry has become a giant in the agricultural products industry: its total investment in China has exceeded 30 billion yuan, with 70 production bases completed or under construction across 25 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, and more than 110 production entities. Its production, sales, and logistics networks cover the entire country.

Yihai Kerry's parent company, Wilmar International, reported revenue of $43.85 billion in 2017, with net profit of $1.22 billion. Revenue from China was $22.392 billion (approximately RMB 150 billion), accounting for 51% of total revenue, and this proportion is continuously rising.

[Image] Yihai Kerry's factories across the country (Image source: Yihai Kerry official website)

It is worth mentioning that the formation of the so-called "strong-strong alliance" Yihai Kerry Group was actually a family internal transaction: the early leader of Wilmar International was Malaysian richest man Robert Kuok, and control was later transferred to his nephew Kuok Khoon Hong, while another company, Kerry Grain and Oil, was managed by his son Kuok Khoon Chen.

The Kuok family's industrial coverage is far more than just agricultural products; it spans the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. For example, the world-famous Shangri-La hotel group is an industry under Robert Kuok, and the wine given as gifts to diamond card members is also produced by companies under the Kuok family's control—a one-stop service.

[Image] Landmark in downtown Shanghai, Jing An Shangri-La Hotel (Image source: Baidu)

[Image] The world's first Shangri-La—Shangri-La Singapore, where Trump stayed during the 2018 Trump-Kim summit (Image source: Baidu)

The extensive business has brought astonishing wealth: according to the latest Forbes rich list released on March 6, Robert Kuok, with a net worth of $12.8 billion, ranks 104th on the global rich list.

Although his descendants are already capable of standing on their own, Robert Kuok, born in 1923, the same age as Lee Kuan Yew, has not retired like his counterpart Li Ka-shing, but continues to fight on the front lines of business. His spirit of "a noble heart in old age" is admirable. So how did he build such a vast industrial empire?

As the first part of "Industry Legends," today Poker Investor will introduce this business legend. An article cannot fully cover his legendary experiences, but we hope to outline a brief but clear picture.

**1**
**Robert Kuok's Growth History**

Like many overseas Chinese, Robert Kuok's ancestral home is in Gaishan Town, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China. In 1909, Robert Kuok's father, 15-year-old Kuok Keng Seng, left his hometown and went to Nanyang (Southeast Asia), settling in Singapore, and later went to Johor Bahru, Malaysia, where he founded Tungsheng Company, dealing in rice, sugar, and soybean business, achieving a modest level of wealth.

During World War I, Malaysian spices were in short supply, prices soared, and the two earned their first pot of gold and joined the ranks of the elite. In 1920, Kuok Keng Seng married Zheng Geru, a fellow townsman. They had three children, of whom the youngest, born on October 6, 1923, is the protagonist of this article—Robert Kuok. His eldest brother, Kuok Hock Khee, later became a diplomat, while Kuok Hock Leng died young.

[Image] The three Kuok brothers and their mother (Image source: "Robert Kuok: A Memoir")

Although the mother of the Kuok brothers was not well-educated, her way of dealing with people benefited the three brothers greatly. As Robert Kuok later admitted, his mother was the person who influenced him the most in his life.

By 1947, at the age of 24, Robert Kuok went alone to Singapore and, with 100,000 ringgit as capital, founded his first company—Leo Company. The following year, after his father's death, Robert Kuok returned to Johor Bahru. In 1949, together with family members, he established Kuok Brothers Limited, inheriting the traditional business of Tungsheng Company, dealing in rice, flour, beans, sugar, and other foodstuffs. Due to his outstanding talent and entrepreneurial experience, he was elected chairman of the board.

That year, the People's Republic of China was founded, so Robert Kuok's company is the same age as New China, which destined his deep connection with China.

"Entrepreneurship is hard, with many battles," and the business process is not smooth sailing. At that time, Malaysia was still under British rule, with white people enjoying many privileges while Chinese and others suffered various forms of discrimination. This greatly shocked Robert Kuok and planted the seeds of patriotism in his heart.

In his memoir, he recalled that when Kuok Brothers was established, according to the authorities' requirements, they needed to deposit at least 100,000 yuan in the bank to obtain loans, while whites were exempt from this rule. Robert Kuok was very unhappy about this, feeling unfairly treated, and the main driving force behind his entrepreneurship was this humiliation. He longed for success to "show those bankers."

An even greater influence on young Robert Kuok was the sacrifice of his second brother, Kuok Hock Leng.

Kuok Hock Leng had sympathized with the poor since childhood. Around 1945, he joined the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and served as propaganda director. In 1948, he went into the jungle with MCP leader Chin Peng to carry out armed struggle. In August 1953, he was ambushed and killed by British forces at the age of 30. The Kuok family was subsequently placed under surveillance by the authorities.

The death of his second brother had a profound impact on Robert Kuok. Robert Kuok once revealed that if not for the influence of his brother and mother, he might have been just a materialistic bourgeois. He said: "When I am tempted by material things, I think of my brother Kuok Hock Leng's experience; he sacrificed his precious life for the people."

[Image] Photo of Robert Kuok's second brother Kuok Hock Leng holding his niece (Image source: "Robert Kuok: A Memoir")

In his memoir, Robert Kuok summarized his second brother's life:

Hock Leng gave his life for justice. He saw the terrible and ugly side of British colonialism and people's blind obedience to it. He was expelled from school because of unfair treatment. He also witnessed the foolish acts of the Japanese invaders. But what he could not tolerate most was the return of British and Indian troops as occupying forces in 1945.

At the same time, Kuok Hock Leng's thoughts deeply influenced his younger brother, an influence no less than that of their mother. As Robert Kuok later recalled a heart-to-heart talk with Hock Leng in 1948, his advice was:

**Politics and economy, politics and business are intertwined and inseparable. The bigger your business, the more politics will entangle you.**

**This sentence became Robert Kuok's lifelong business creed and played a great guiding role in the later development of Kuok Brothers—and it can also guide today's Chinese entrepreneurs.**

[Image] Scene of Robert Kuok recalling his second brother (Image source: Baidu)

The eventual "demise" of the MCP was also closely related to Robert Kuok's mediation: by 1987, Robert Kuok was invited to meet with representatives from China and Malaysia to help resolve the MCP issue. Two years later, to reach an agreement, Robert Kuok was specially arranged to meet with Chinese officials in Guangzhou to finalize the wording of the agreement.

In "Robert Kuok: A Memoir," this period is described as follows:

On the agreed day, he (referring to Robert Kuok) departed at noon and arrived in Guangzhou two hours later. At that time, a car came to pick him up, and the whole process was as mysterious as a James Bond movie. The car circled around several times, and the driver deliberately tried to shake off any possible tail. Later, he met with a "leader" in a dimly lit, seemingly confidential but ordinary house. They showed Robert Kuok a draft and asked for his opinion. The draft originated from "a very senior national leader."

Robert Kuok recalled that after reading the drafted document, he felt there were two inappropriate points and suggested modifications. A few months later, the Malaysian government and Chin Peng signed a peace agreement, and the MCP members came out of the jungle and symbolically laid down their arms.

In any case, all parties finally reached a final peace agreement, and MCP members walked out of the forest and happily "went home." Thus, the MCP, founded in 1930 and having weathered 59 years of storms, officially became history. Chin Peng later lived in exile in Thailand and died in 2013 at the age of 89.

The cause for which his brother gave his life was ended with the help of his younger brother. History is sometimes wonderful.

**2**
**How Was the "Sugar King of Asia" Made?**

With the whole family under surveillance, Robert Kuok had to temporarily leave Malaysia and go to Britain. During his years abroad, he carefully studied the operations of the London Commodity Exchange and developed a strong interest in the British sugar trade industry.

At that time, the London exchange was dominated by Western traders, and it was not easy for Chinese to integrate into that circle. Robert Kuok didn't care; instead, he carefully observed and studied every move of the traders—even the tone of their phone calls. **At the same time, he took the opportunity to study business management and international trade knowledge, laying a solid foundation for future operations.**

[Image] Sugar crystals—sugar cubes (Image source: Baidu)

After Malaysia's independence in 1957, when the traditional British economic influence receded, Robert Kuok believed that Malaysia's consumer goods market would have a vacuum, and at that time Malaysia had no sugar refinery. This was a golden opportunity that comes once in a thousand years.

**A Small Test, Unintentionally Becoming Wealthy**

Robert Kuok seized the opportunity and, after obtaining family members' consent, decided to go all in, investing all funds into the sugar refining industry.

In 1959, Robert Kuok, in a joint venture with the Federal Land Development Authority, founded the Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Company in Penang. He purchased raw sugar from Thailand, processed it in his own sugar factory, and transported it to various places, quickly establishing a sales network in Malaysia, forming an "integrated operation" system.

[Image] White sugar produced by the Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Company (Image source: Baidu)

In addition, Robert Kuok also imported cane sugar from Cuba and resold it to Southeast Asian countries. He also sold sugar to China through Hong Kong commodity brokerage firms. After several years, Robert Kuok had controlled Malaysia's cane sugar industry and earned substantial profits. From then on, people respectfully called him the "Sugar King of Malaysia."

However, "the business world is like a battlefield." Just as Robert Kuok's career was at its peak, his business faced severe challenges: starting in 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis blocked his sales channels, which in turn caused global sugar prices to rise.

This was good in itself, but at that moment, a large amount of white sugar from China appeared on the Malaysian market. These sugars were cheap and posed a serious challenge to Robert Kuok's business.

After careful consideration, Robert Kuok decided to import cheaper sugar from India in large quantities. In the end, Indian sugar successfully defeated Chinese producers, retaining his market share in Malaysia, and Robert Kuok became the overlord of Malaysia's sugar industry.

Having achieved success, Robert Kuok was not satisfied with existing achievements but noticed a fatal weakness in Malaysia's sugar industry—although there was a sugar refinery, there was no sugar crop cultivation, which bothered him. Moreover, although he won the price war, it was a narrow victory, and he urgently needed to improve his risk resistance.

**Industry and Finance Both Flourish, Finally Becoming the "Sugar King of Asia"**

Although Malaysia's climate and land are very suitable for sugarcane growth, traditionally, local farmers were not accustomed to planting sugarcane, usually growing rice, pepper, cocoa, tobacco, cashews, and the like. Therefore, all the raw materials for Robert Kuok's sugar factory relied on overseas imports, and thus prices were controlled by foreign countries. Not only that, in that era of unstable global situation, when the Strait of Malacca could be blocked at any time, this was a fatal risk factor.

In 1968, Robert Kuok leased 14,400 acres (5,760 hectares) of jungle land from the Malaysian government and reclaimed it into sugarcane plantations, greatly increasing the source of raw materials. At the same time, he established a sugar factory near the plantation in cooperation with the Malaysian Land Development Authority (a government agency) to process the sugarcane produced in the plantation, thus greatly saving transportation costs.

In 1973, the plantation yielded a harvest, and the sugar factory's output also grew rapidly, leading Malaysia towards the first step of sugar self-sufficiency. Since Robert Kuok pioneered the sugar industry, Malaysia's sugarcane cultivation has flourished. In 1970, the sugarcane planting area reached 7,100 hectares, and by 1980, it had greatly increased to 17,900 hectares.

While focusing on sugar production, Robert Kuok also paid attention to the sales market and applied the trading knowledge he learned in London to practice.

In 1970, he keenly sensed a rising trend in world sugar prices, so he overrode objections, made bold decisions, and decisively entered the international sugar market. **With Southeast Asia as the main base, he extended his business front to Europe and America, such as buying sugar from Cuba and reselling it to Indonesia, importing raw sugar from Thailand, refining it, and reselling it to China through Hong Kong brokers. He purchased large quantities of raw sugar before world sugar prices rose and actively invested in sugar futures trading.**

[Image] Sugar prices peaked in the 1970s (Image source: Changjiang Securities)

His forward-looking strategic vision was proven: by 1973, affected by the global oil crisis, sugar transportation became difficult, and global sugar prices soared four to five times; by 1979, the 1979 oil crisis coincided with poor sugar harvests in many countries, and Brazil began implementing an alcohol energy plan, diverting a large amount of sugar production capacity to alcohol production. The short-term supply shortage again pushed up sugar prices.

Throughout the 1970s, Robert Kuok and the Kuok family group's sugar trade expanded from Malaysia to the UK, the US, Hong Kong, China, and other countries and regions. Robert Kuok purchased nearly 30 tons of sugar from Thailand each year, and through low buying and high selling, commission extraction, and other methods, he conducted futures trading in New York, London, and other places, earning huge profits. **Of the 16 million tons of sugar listed annually on the international market, the Kuok group controlled about 10%. In Malaysia's sugar market, the Kuok group held more than 80% of the share.**

All this provided financial guarantees for his future business expansion. The company's performance expanded towards diversification and internationalization with the momentum of "mercury pouring down, entering every gap." In 1976, Robert Kuok acquired 93.3% of the shares of competitor Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Company.

At this point, Robert Kuok, just over 50 years old, had developed from the "Sugar King of Malaysia" into the veritable "Sugar King of Asia," becoming a dominant figure in the international sugar market and recognized by peers worldwide as one of the world's six sugar kings.

The sweet business opened the first spring of Robert Kuok's commercial empire and brought him a steady stream of wealth. At this moment, Robert Kuok was far from the man he was before; the London sugar brokers who once looked down on him now spared no praise. However, Robert Kuok was completely unsatisfied with this; his goal was a broader market.

As a famous saying goes: **The farther your vision, the farther your path can go.** Pattern determines the outcome of business.

**3**
**Trade with Mainland China**

No matter how big the Malaysian market is, it is ultimately just a corner. What Robert Kuok wanted was the market of the world's most populous country—although at that time, most people in this country were still poor, but precisely that meant opportunity.

As mentioned earlier, in the 1962 sugar market share battle, Robert Kuok imported cheap sugar from India and won a beautiful defensive battle, which also made China, which lacked foreign exchange experience at the time, realize the power of the market. From then on, China appreciated Kuok's talent and granted Kuok the Malaysian agency rights for many Chinese products, also opening more than half a century of economic and trade relations between the two sides.

However, at that time, due to ideological differences, the two sides only had limited small-scale contacts, often not public, and did not carry out large-scale cooperation.

Opportunities always come. In the early 1970s, Robert Kuok, already the "Sugar King of Asia," suddenly made a major decision: **to shift his business focus to Hong Kong.**

The reasons behind this were widely speculated, and it was not until his memoir was published that people suddenly understood: it was because the tax rates in Singapore and Malaysia were too high, prompting him to move.

In the book, he revealed:

At that time, the Singapore and Malaysian governments seemed to compete to impose the highest taxes on wealth creators, taxing business profits at "punitive rates." Simply put, if a company earned 1 ringgit, it could only keep 50 cents. At that time, his main business was commodity trading, so the purchase volume was huge; 3,000 lots equaled 150,000 tons of white sugar. As long as prices fluctuated slightly, even if the price of sugar rose or fell by 1 cent per pound, it could bring huge profits or losses.

In contrast to the high tax rates of Singapore and Malaysia, if doing business in Hong Kong, one only needed to pay 17% corporate tax. **Robert Kuok emphasized that since he participated in global sugar trade, he had to find a low-tax base, so moving to low-tax Hong Kong was simply a rational move.**

In addition to tax considerations, the rising nationalist sentiment in Malaysia may also have been an important reason.

After Malaysia's independence in 1957, the authorities gave Malays some preferential treatment for various reasons, but overall it was within a reasonable range. However, in the 1970s, after the country's second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak came to power, he launched a 20-year "New Economic Policy," aiming to narrow the economic gap between the Malay natives and the Chinese within 20 years. Unfortunately, in the implementation process, policies often became distorted.

[Image] Malaysia's second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak (Image source: Baidu)

In his memoir, Kuok recalled the absurdity of the policy at that time:

Government departments ordered non-Malays to set up companies and must sell 30% of shares to Malays, and at below market value. But after Malays received the allocated shares, after a period of time they would cash out. After the Chinese bought them back, a few years later, when the share structure was checked again, it was found that Malay shareholding was below 30% again, and they would require another allocation of shares to Malays.

Robert Kuok questioned that this was undoubtedly robbery: "Does it mean that if the government approves it, it is not plunder?" He believed that Malays were eager to narrow the economic gap with the Chinese but took a harmful shortcut, with the side effect of increasingly fierce racism.

Unfortunately, Malaysia's lesson was not heeded, and history always repeats itself.

In fact, since 1960, Robert Kuok had begun to consider transferring some business to Hong Kong. In 1974, he finally made up his mind to establish Hong Kong Kuok Brothers Company. Subsequently, he stayed in Hong Kong for 7 to 10 days each month, then gradually increased to 15 and 21 days, until he completely moved to Hong Kong in 1979.

"Lose at sunrise, gain at sunset." Moving to Hong Kong became the beginning of Robert Kuok's further contact with mainland China and a new starting point for his career.

**Buying Sugar for the Country**

In 1973, mainland China was still in a period of turmoil, with severe material shortages. Many bulk agricultural products had to be imported, and sugar was one example.

In April 1973, China decided to import 470,000 tons of raw sugar, notifying COFCO and Hong Kong China Resources to implement it immediately, with China Resources handling foreign negotiations and domestic COFCO concluding the transaction. At that time, the annual trading volume of sugar on the international market was only about 10 million tons, with Brazil as the main exporter.

To avoid stimulating a rise in international sugar prices, China Resources decided to complete the transaction through Robert Kuok on the London Exchange. At that time, Robert Kuok already owned a residence in Repulse Bay, Hong Kong.

In the previous Malaysian sugar price war, China had already learned of Robert Kuok's prowess, so they hoped he could help buy 470,000 tons of sugar from the international market at a relatively low price. The former opponent had now become a partner.

[Image] Repulse Bay, the wealthy area of Hong Kong (Image source: Baidu)

470,000 tons was a very large number at that time. Although Robert Kuok was already a top sugar trader in the world, even if he was willing to sell at a low price, he did not have that much stock on hand. Moreover, he estimated that if the news became public, it would push sugar prices up by 20% to 25%. Therefore, this was a highly difficult and absolutely confidential matter.

It should be said that Robert Kuok was not unfamiliar with this news—China Resources organized patriotic overseas Chinese to return to the country for sightseeing every year and selected representatives to attend the National Day reception in Beijing. Robert Kuok met Premier Zhou Enlai several times, so he was well aware of the domestic situation.

Although he knew it was very difficult, when he heard that it was a national need and that such a big secret was told to him, trusting him so much, Robert Kuok agreed without hesitation. Being proficient in international markets, especially futures markets, he also discussed with China Resources to buy some futures on behalf of the country while buying spot goods, and then sell them to arbitrage after the market surged.

Military intelligence was urgent and could not be delayed. Robert Kuok promised that he would freeze his own business and devote one or two months to this task.

After analysis, Robert Kuok believed that only by going to Brazil could he buy so much sugar. But he certainly could not go in person—otherwise, it would arouse speculation among peers, or even leak the market information in advance, with disastrous consequences.

Coincidentally, two or three weeks later, there was a large-scale international sugar conference in Geneva. "I thought, if I attend the meeting with them, they won't think it's me buying sugar." Thinking of this, Robert Kuok, who rarely attended such events, immediately decided: send someone to Brazil to secretly buy sugar, while he deliberately registered to attend the conference.

**Repairing the Walkway in Open, Crossing the Chencang in Secret**

At the Geneva conference, Robert Kuok, while toasting with international peers, was nervously deploying and following up on the Brazil operation, living in fear every day.

The spy war was extremely dangerous. The most tense moment was when a British friend mysteriously found him and said mysteriously: "You know, Brazil has been strange lately. Two or three young Asians I've never seen before are coming and going in the sugar district every day, as if something big is about to happen."

Robert Kuok's heart skipped a beat, but he pretended to be surprised and concerned, saying: "Really? What's the situation? How do you know?" After leaving the other with "If you have any more market information or news, be sure to tell me," he quickly left, breaking out in a cold sweat. "You can see how formidable their intelligence is."

The next day, the young man sent to Brazil brought good news to Robert Kuok. "At the conference, while someone was giving a speech, a broadcast came over the loudspeaker calling for Robert Kuok, my English name, saying there was an international phone call."

They first bought 260,000 tons of futures on the London Sugar Exchange at an average of 82 pounds per ton, then bought 410,000 tons of spot goods from Brazil, Australia, the UK, Thailand, Argentina, and other countries at an average of 89 pounds per ton. After the news spread, the New York and London sugar markets surged to 105 pounds per ton, and China Resources then sold the futures.

After this thrilling commercial battle, Robert Kuok not only successfully solved China's 300,000-ton sugar gap at a low price but also earned nearly $5 million for China through the futures market, depositing this huge sum into the designated account as instructed by the country.

In 1973 China, $5 million was a staggering astronomical figure. Because that year, China's foreign exchange reserves were a worrying number: negative $81 million.

However, as an international sugar magnate, Robert Kuok worked hard for one or two months, racking his brains to accomplish such a big thing for the country, but he did not earn a penny from such a big market movement.

"If my company had also joined in, it would definitely have made money. But I couldn't do that. Because that would be disloyal to China. Saying that might be too grand. But **my principle is that even in an ordinary business, if you promise someone, you should not run two horses.** "

These few words show the patriotic heart of an overseas Chinese entrepreneur.

**4**
**Robert Kuok in the New Era: Growing with the Motherland**

After this joint operation, Robert Kuok was positioned as a "patriotic overseas Chinese." After the reform and opening up, he became one of the most popular investors in mainland China, frequently becoming a guest of honor for local governments.

Robert Kuok's business is far more than just white sugar; it covers a vast commercial kingdom including hotels, real estate, shipping, mining, insurance, banking, media, and grain and oil. His Kerry Properties and Shangri-La hotel group have also opened in first-, second-, and third-tier cities across the country.

[Image] The first Shangri-La in mainland China—Hangzhou Shangri-La, enjoying a first-line view of West Lake.

[Image] Overview of Robert Kuok's industries (South China Morning Post has been 100% controlled by Jack Ma since 2016)

Among them, his most classic investment in mainland China is undoubtedly the Beijing China World Trade Center business district.

In 1984, Deng Xiaoping wanted to develop China's economy, but China did not even have a decent trade center, so the state wanted to build the China World Trade Center on Jianguomenwai Avenue.

Initially, there was strong opposition domestically because the area was too desolate at that time. They finally found two foreign consortiums, one American and one Japanese, but the conditions they offered were extremely harsh.

[Image] Jianguomen overpass in the 1980s, when the capital was not yet "first congested" (Image source: Da Feng Hao)

After learning of this, Robert Kuok rose up in anger: "Does today's China still have to rely on foreigners?" He immediately decided: "We must strive for pride and not let outsiders look down on us Chinese. This matter should be done by us Chinese ourselves." So he immediately decided to invest in the construction of China World Trade Center Phase I, and later continued to invest funds to complete Phases II and III.

In the late 1980s, affected by the situation at that time, many foreign investors withdrew their investments, but Robert Kuok still increased his investment in China against the trend, becoming a benchmark leading overseas Chinese and even foreign investors to be optimistic about China. **In 1990, Deng Xiaoping specially spent 40 minutes meeting with him and commented: You and I are both in the role of pathfinders.**

[Image] Beijing China World Trade Center (Image source: Baidu)

Today, as one of the world's largest business centers, the 1.1 million square meters of commercial space in China World Trade Center is only for rent, not for sale, bringing Robert Kuok unimaginable wealth.

Robert Kuok has now become Beijing's largest landlord, owning 1.1 million square meters of commercial space in the China World Trade Center business district, only for rent, not for sale. Among them, the China World Mall alone had a turnover of 5.65 billion yuan in 2016, equivalent to more than 15 million yuan per day. It is no exaggeration to say that his rental income is "earning money like a golden river," simply a super money printer.

Not only in Beijing, but in Shanghai, Robert Kuok has opened three five-star hotels, and each one is hard to book during peak season.

[Image] Lotus Suite at Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, Shanghai, with a panoramic river view (Image source: Mr Ge)

Now, let's use a table to summarize the legendary life of this "Sugar King of Asia" and "Father of Shangri-La":

At the end of 2012, after receiving the "Lifetime Achievement Award for China Economic Person of the Year," Robert Kuok gave advice to young people:

**First, be focused. No matter what business you do, seize opportunities, don't be distracted. When you find a good project, act quickly and with great drive.**

**Second, you must be patient. There will certainly be many difficulties along the way, and they won't be easily overcome. I remember Mr. Deng Xiaoping mentioned being a tumbler doll: when knocked down, get up. Business must be like this.**

**Third, after success, after making money, be especially careful. Decades ago, people said failure is the mother of success. From my own experience, success is also the mother of failure.**

**-END-**


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