Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Li Ka-Shing

Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-Shing has pledged to pay the tuition fees for a class of Chinese university students through his charitable foundation.

The Li Ka-Shing Foundation will fund Shantou University's 2019 incoming class for up to five years.

Mr Li, aged 90, is worth $30.4bn (£24.2bn) according to Forbes.

Last month billionaire Robert F Smith made a similar move, saying he would pay the loans of a US college class.

The Li Ka-Shing Foundation will cover full tuition for four to five years for undergraduates, starting with the incoming class of 2019 at Shantou University, in the Guangdong province of China.

The move will cost 100m Chinese yuan ($14.4m; £11.5m) a year.

"The Foundation hopes this scheme can alleviate financial burdens for families and encourage the pursuit of personal interests and further learning to better prepare graduates for the challenges of an increasingly complex global economy," the foundation said in a statement.

'Superman'

Mr Li, who has a rags-to-riches story after starting work sweeping factory floors as a young boy, was ranked 28th on Forbes rich list in 2019.

He retired from his business empire last year, handing over the reins to his eldest son Victor Li.

The Li family's CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings groups are involved in sectors including retail, telecoms and power.

Mr Li was one of the first Hong Kong tycoons to invest in mainland China, and property accounts for a big part in his wealth.

The billionaire was knighted by the UK in 2000, and earned the nickname "Superman" for his business and investment success.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The moment a billionaire cleared a whole class's student debt

Mr Li's generosity comes on the heels of a similar move by American philanthropist Robert F Smith.

Last month the billionaire tech investor shocked graduating students in Atlanta, Georgia, by telling them he would pay off all of their student loans.

Nearly 400 students stand to benefit from the pledge to wipe out their debt, thought to be worth $40m. </s> • Li Ka-Shing, the richest man in Hong Kong, announced on June 16 that his foundation will cover the entire cost of the tuition for Shantou University’s incoming class for up to five years.
• The pledge will cost him $14.4 million a year, according to the BBC.
• Li’s announcement comes a month after American billionaire Robert F. Smith pledged to pay off the Morehouse College class of 2019’s student loans and a year after The Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone began paying the tuition of every student at NYU’s medical school.

Shantou University’s incoming class won’t have to pay a cent in tuition thanks to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing.

The Li Ka-Shing Foundation announced June 16 that it will cover the class’ tuition for up to five years as a part of an ongoing initiative to make higher education more accessible in China.

Sometimes called “Superman,” the 90-year-old billionaire has a net worth of $30.4 billion, according to Forbes, making him the wealthiest man in Hong Kong. Li, who was born in China but moved to Hong Kong in 1940 to escape a Japanese invasion, began his career as a factory worker. He built his fortune as a real-estate developer and major investor in port operator and cell phone carrier CK Hutchison Holdings. Li retired from the conglomerate in May 2018, but still serves as a senior advisor.

Read more: Hong Kong’s richest man retired at 89 years old – here’s his incredible rags-to-riches life story

This is not the first time Li has worked with Shantou University. He served as the school’s honorary president before passing the torch to his son Richard Li Tzar Kai in June 2018. The school currently has 10,056 undergraduates, who are each charged $8,690 for tuition according to its website.

“The Foundation hopes this scheme can alleviate financial burdens for families and encourage the pursuit of personal interests and further learning to better prepare graduates for the challenges of an increasingly complex global economy,” the Li Ka Shing Foundation said in a statement.

Li’s announcement comes a month after American billionaire Robert F. Smith pledged to pay off the student loans of all 400 members of Morehouse College’s class of 2019. Last year, The Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone pledged to pay the tuition of every student at New York University’s medical school. </s> Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-shing has promised to pay tuition fees for a class of Chinese university students. His charitable foundation will fund Shantou University’s 2019 incoming class for up to five years. Li’s pledge will cost 100m Chinese yuan (£11.5m) a year. The 90-year old is worth $30.04bn (£23.8bn) according to Forbes.The foundation said in a statement: “The Foundation hopes this scheme can alleviate financial burdens for families and encourage the pursuit of personal interests and further learning to better prepare graduates for the challenges of an increasingly complex global economy.” Li’s move is similar to that of US billionaire Robert F Smith who said last month he would pay off the tuition debt of the 2019 class of Morehouse College. Li announced his retirement as chair of conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings last year, passing the mantle to his son Victor Li. Li started as a factory apprentice at 13 and has been nicknamed “Superman” for his business success. He was knighted by the UK in 2000. </s> Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing waves goodbye to journalists after announcing his retirement as chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd at a news conference in Hong Kong, China March 16, 2018. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing announced June 16 that he would fund up to 5 years of tuition for Shantou University's incoming class.

Before he retired in 2018, Li ran CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, the two massive conglomerates that he built in Asia's most famous rags-to-riches story. Li now focuses on his charitable foundation, the Li Ka Shing Foundation, and has pledged one-third of his wealth to philanthropy.

While he is no longer the richest man in Asia, the 91-year-old still ranks as the 28th-richest person in the world and has a current estimated net worth of $30.3 billion.

Often called "Superman" and Asia's answer to Warren Buffet by the media, Li has an incredible and inspiring life story. He went from dropping out of school as a child to support his family to becoming the first person of Chinese origin to buy one of the British-built Hong Kong companies that dominated the city since its colonial days.

Christi Danner contributed reporting to an earlier version of this story. </s> Li Ka-Shing, who is Hong Kong's richest man, has vowed to pay an entire university class' tuition fees for the next five years.

The 90-year-old billionaire has taken the financial burden off of students' shoulders. The Li Ka-Shing Foundation will carry Shantou University's 2019 incoming class' study fees for up to 2024, BBC reported.

Legit.ng learned the move will cost Ka-Shing $14.4 million (which is more than N4 billion) a year.

Ka-Shing is reportedly worth $30.4 billion - an estimated N10.944 billion. In a statement, the foundation said it hoped that the scheme would help lift the financial burdens for families, as well as motivate the students to focus on their studies.

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According to reports, Ka-Shing retired from his business empire in 2018, leaving his oldest son in charge.

The family owns CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, groups that operate in the retail, telecoms and power sectors.

Ka-Ching was not born rich; he worked as a cleaner as a young boy, sweeping the floors in a factory.

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General </s> It’s Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s turn now to support university students, a month after US tycoon Robert F. Smith vowed to pay off loans of undergraduates in an American college.

The Li Ka-shing Foundation said it will pay tuition for all undergraduates in the incoming class of 2019 for four to five years at Shantou University in Guangdong, the southern Chinese province Li came from as a refugee to Hong Kong decades ago. The foundation has committed to an annual grant of 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) to the university, it said in a June 16 statement.

The pledge by the city’s richest man, who turned a plastic flower business into a global empire spanning ports and property to telecommunications and retailing, is part of the philanthropic work his foundation has been doing globally. Since 1980, his organization has donated more than HK$25 billion ($3.2 billion) to health care, education and religious causes, most of it in the greater China region, according to its website.

The foundation has also supported reforms at Shantou University with grants of more than HK$10 billion.

Li, whose net worth is about $30 billion, retired in May 2018 and handed the top position at the family-controlled conglomerate to his eldest son Victor Li. Victor has stepped in as chairman of the group’s flagship companies CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and CK Asset Holdings Ltd., while the father, now 90, remains a senior adviser to his business empire.

The grant comes weeks after Smith, founder of Vista Equity Partners, stunned students at Morehouse College by vowing to pay off the student loans of every member of the class of 2019. The school told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution it will cost an estimated $40 million to retire the debt of the graduating class, which totals about 400 students. </s> Feb 26 Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, said on Thursday Hong Kong people would be "big losers" if legislators reject a government proposal for limited democracy, as some have threatened to do in their campaign for full democracy.

It was the sternest warning yet from the most powerful of the financial tycoons, who worry that demands for full democracy that brought thousands of protesters onto Hong Kong streets late last year will undermine stability and business.

Hong Kong legislators are due to vote in late June or early July on whether or not to accept a Beijing proposal, backed by the city government, that would allow all citizens a vote in the city's next leadership election in 2017, but only for candidates pre-screened by a pro-Beijing committee.

The protesters who camped out for two months last year and some city legislators reject that, and instead demand full and free democracy for Hong Kong.

"If the proposal got voted down, you and me, everyone in Hong Kong, will be big losers," Li, 86, said at an earnings briefing for his flagship companies, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd and Hutchison Whampoa, whose combined market value is more than $100 billion.

"China gives us this policy, we turn it down, then who'd lose out if we regret it in the future? It's you and me ... I don't want to become a loser, especially a big loser."

A former British territory, Hong Kong is ruled under a "one country, two systems" formula that allows wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland and specifies universal suffrage as an eventual goal.

But Beijing ruled on Aug. 31 it would screen candidates who want to run for the city's chief executive in 2017, which democracy activists said rendered the concept of universal suffrage meaningless.

Democratic lawmakers who hold a one-third veto bloc in the 70-seat legislative council have vowed to vote down the proposal.

The Hong Kong government has warned that the city must make economic stability a top priority after the student-led protests last year paralysed some city districts and unnerved authorities in Beijing.

But Li said he was upbeat about Hong Kong's outlook, adding that its biggest advantage was backing from mainland China.

Known as "Superman" in Hong Kong for his deal-making savvy, Li was among a group of Hong Kong tycoons who visited Beijing in September to discuss issues including Hong Kong affairs with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. (Reporting by Clare Jim and Donny Kwok; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Robert Birsel) </s> Tight security contained protesters in Hong Kong tonight as China’s President Xi Jinping led lavish celebrations to mark 20 years since the politically divided city was handed back to China by Britain.

A huge security operation has shut down large parts of Hong Kong, with thousands of police deployed to keep away demonstrators angry at Beijing’s tightening grip on the freedoms of nearly eight million people.

A planned pro-independence rally was cancelled after police banned it from taking place and cordoned off the harbourfront area where defiant protesters had said they would gather.

An official protest zone near the harbourfront convention centre where Xi was guest of honour at an anniversary banquet and variety show was also heavily patrolled as dozens of demonstrators gathered chanting: “End one-party dictatorship!”

Tensions had flared this afternoon as democracy campaigners and pro-China supporters swore and shouted at each other near the convention centre, with police separating the two sides.

Xi praised Hong Kong for its role in China’s economic development as he addressed the banquet, which included lawmakers and business figures, and told Hong Kong citizens to believe in themselves and China.

“Hong Kong has developed from a small unknown fishing village into a large international metropolis, forged by the hard work of generations of Hong Kongers,” he said.

“When the country does well, Hong Kong will do even better,” he added, before raising a glass of red wine for a toast.

Xi had earlier met with business leaders including the city’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, with whom he shared a lengthy handshake.

Earlier today, tanks, missile launchers and chanting troops greeted Xi in a potent display of Chinese military might.

He inspected troops at China’s People’s Liberation Army airfield in rural northern Hong Kong, wearing a black Mao suit and riding an open-top camouflage jeep in the largest military parade since the 1997 handover.

As the jeep slowly drove past row upon row of air, naval and land personnel, Xi shouted “Hello comrades!” as the troops responded “Hello chairman!”

Armoured vehicles topped with missile launchers and military helicopters lined Xi’s path along the airstrip for the eight-minute extravaganza.

There were fears that the PLA would crack down in Hong Kong when it was returned to China, particularly after the brutal crushing of student protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, but it has kept a very low profile.

The PLA is responsible for defending the city and comprises only mainland troops, with Hong Kong residents unable to serve, but it is barred from interfering in local affairs.

As part of the handover deal, Hong Kong was guaranteed rights including freedom of speech and an independent judiciary for 50 years, but there are concerns those liberties are disappearing as Beijing becomes ever more assertive.

Xi’s three-day visit is his first since becoming leader in 2013, and comes three years after huge pro-democracy rallies crippled Hong Kong.

Student protest leader Joshua Wong and young legislator Nathan Law were among 26 activists detained by police Wednesday night for “public nuisance” over a protest a stone’s throw away from the hotels where Xi and his entourage are staying.

They were released from police custody in the early hours of today after threatening to go to the High Court to petition against their ongoing incarceration.

Police told AFP they had not been charged, but bailed to report back in September.

Activists say they have been followed by police and “thugs” since the protest.

In many major Hong Kong newspapers, coverage of protests was eclipsed by exhaustive accounts of Xi’s itinerary and quotes from him, at a time when the media stands accused of succumbing to pressure from Beijing.

The US State Department urged China to respect civil liberties in Hong Kong, including press freedom, in a statement yesterday.

During his visit Xi has pledged support for Hong Kong and assured that its semi-autonomous system of government is intact.

But he also praised the government for “dealing a blow” to an independence movement that has infuriated Beijing.

Calls for the city to break away from China grew out of the failure of the mass pro-democracy rallies in 2014 to win political reform.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> In this image made from video, armed police vehicles are parked outside Shenzhen Bay Stadium in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, Friday, Aug. 16, 2019. Satellite photos show what appear to be armored personnel carriers and other vehicles belonging to the China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police parked in a sports complex in the city of Shenzhen, in what some have interpreted as a threat from Beijing to use increased force against pro-democracy protesters across the border in Hong Kong.(AP Photo/Dake Kang)

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Members of China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police marched and practiced crowd control tactics at a sports complex in Shenzhen across from Hong Kong in what some interpreted as a threat against pro-democracy protesters in the semi-autonomous territory.

The sound of marching boots and synchronized shouts echoed from the grounds on Friday. Officers in green camouflage stood guard at closed entrances. A stadium security guard said “it wasn’t clear” when the paramilitary police would leave the grounds.

Chinese state media have only said that the Shenzhen exercises were planned earlier and were not directly related to the unrest in Hong Kong, though they came shortly after the central government in Beijing said the protests were beginning to show the “sprouts of terrorism.”

From a distance, police could be seen conducting drills in military fatigues, using shields, poles and other riot-control gear. In one exercise, two groups marched in formation with those in front raising shields as if to protect themselves from projectiles. Others behind held red flags and banners. The words “the law” and “prosecuted” could be seen on one.

Outside, dozens of armored carriers and trucks sat in the parking lot of the Shenzhen Bay Stadium, close to a bridge linking mainland China to Hong Kong.

Asked if Hong Kong police could maintain order or if mainland Chinese intervention is becoming inevitable, Hong Kong police commander Yeung Man-pun said that while they face tremendous pressure, “I can tell you we’re confident the police have the capability to maintain law and order.”

Germany, meanwhile, said it considers China to be a responsible actor that will respect Hong Kong laws guaranteeing freedom of speech and rule of law.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that Hong Kong’s 1997 Basic Law, under which the city was promised a high degree of autonomy when the former British colony returned to China, “is a Chinese law, and as such we naturally expect that the People’s Republic of China, too, won’t call into question the peaceful exercise of these rights.”

Weeks of protests in Hong Kong have been marked by increasing violence and a shutdown of the Hong Kong airport earlier this week. The demonstrators are demanding expanded political rights and the scrapping of legislation that could have seen criminal suspects sent to mainland China.

A weekend of protests began Friday night with a university student-led “power to the people” rally in Chater Garden, a public square in the financial district.

A pro-democracy march is planned for Saturday along with a separate pro-government “Save Hong Kong” rally, ahead of a major pro-democracy rally called for Sunday. Police have denied permission for the march on Sunday, but protesters have ignored such denials in the past.

China has pressured foreign and Hong Kong companies to support the ruling Communist Party’s position against the protesters.

The CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent companies, resigned Friday following pressure by Beijing on the carrier over participation by some of its employees in the anti-government protests.

Cathay Pacific said Rupert Hogg resigned “to take responsibility” following “recent events.”

The company chairman, John Slosar, said in a statement the airline needed new management because events had “called into question” its commitment to safety and security.

On Monday, Hogg threatened employees with “disciplinary consequences” if they took part in “illegal protests.’

Last week, China’s aviation regulator said Cathay Pacific employees who “support or take part in illegal protests, violent actions, or overly radical behavior” are banned from staffing flights to mainland China.

On Friday morning, Frenchman Alain Robert, who has been dubbed “spiderman” for his unauthorized climbs of skyscrapers, hung a banner appealing for peace as he scaled the 62-story Cheung Kong Center, a landmark Hong Kong building that is the base for property tycoon Li Ka-shing’s business empire.

The banner showed the Chinese and Hong Kong flags over a handshake and a small yellow sun with a smiley face.

“The banner is to give joy and smile to the people of Hong Kong,” he told the AP as he sat in a taxi about to leave for his climb. He added that he didn’t want to get “mixed up in the political situation.”

Robert, 57, was taken to a police station afterward. It wasn’t immediately clear if he would be charged. He was banned in 2017 from returning to Hong Kong for one year after climbing another building.
Li Ka-shing, "Hong Kong's richest man", pledges to pay, via his charitable foundation, the tuition fees of the Shantou University's 2019 incoming class for up to five years.