“I like to give little gold coins to children as their birthday present. A toy is a ‘write-off’, but a coin is an asset. Just imagine giving a child a coin every year; he/she will end up with an asset — a collection of coins— by the age of 18”— Solina Chau

Solina Chau is a prominent businesswoman in Hong Kong, best known for being a strategic business partner in the Li Ka-Shing Group and director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation. She is also a major stockholder in Tom.com, a major publication and advertising company in the People's Republic of China.

A “Coin Collector” on the Street

Solina Chau has a wide range of experiences in project planning and business development in China, notably the Beijing Oriental Plaza Project with the Tung Group and Tom.com Ltd., a company listed on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since March 2000.

The Beijing Oriental Plaza project was her chance to become a wealthy woman overnight. She was nobody before 1993, when she sold the plaza to Li Ka-Shing, a famous business man well-known in Hong Kong SAR. However, few people know the exact details of the marvelous business skills she displayed during this project.

It was just like picking up a “golden coin” from the street by unimaginable good luck that she found the “golden place”. Located on Chang'an Street in Beijing, she discovered the site while walking in the area. Initially what caught her attention was a six-story-building, which she immediately had the idea of buying. At that moment, she felt like she was picking up a big golden coin. And what followed was even more shocking to her. After discussions with local government about this project, she found she had support from local officials to renovate and develop the entire surrounding area. Thus, she purchased all the adjacent properties piece by piece, the sizes ranging from 10,000 m² to 100,000 m².  Soon, she was the owner of a whole package of golden coins.

A Great Wealth Creator

By that time, she represented Hong Kong’s Tung Group and the project was named “Oriental Plaza”. This project attracted intense interest and aroused great enthusiasm within the Hong Kong business community. Finally, Solina Chau got a commission of HK$ 400 million from a total investment of HK$ 2 billion from Li Kai Shing. She became a millionaire overnight. And the Beijing Oriental Plaza also had become one of the biggest symbols of commercial development in Beijing.

This first success did not stop her from pursuing further business opportunities. In 1999, fate again was favorable to her. That year, because of the Internet boom, she persuaded Li Ka Shing to list Tom.com Ltd. on the Hong Kong stock exchange market the next year. Then, in 2003, she sold her own company for US$ 15 million to Tom.com and the latter went on to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange

Now, only she knows exactly how many projects she is involved in. With a mysterious smile, she admits that besides well-known projects, there are numerous others done by her without using her own name.

Targeting on “Project Tomorrow”

In addition to her exciting business endeavors, Solina has been keen to promote educational development in China, with a focus on education for women. In 1996, she set up the HS Chau Foundation as a vehicle to further this vision.

The Foundation launched a series of “Project Tomorrow” projects, an integrated system supporting the multi-faceted elements of education: from primary schools to universities, from teachers to students, from cultural learning to technical training, from school supplies to tele-education infrastructure. To date, the Foundation has contributed more than HK$50 Million. Its main target is female students, and her intention is to encourage females to be independent, courageous and perseverant. Whether or not she intends to be an example, the foundation has made her the very person who has helped to change women’s lives.

When asked by a journalist, “Do you consider yourself successful?” She answered: “If the definition of success could simply be measured by a balance sheet, then it is pretentious to claim otherwise. But life is not simply a balance sheet, right? And I guess I still need time— time to see whether I still have the energy and drive to accomplish the goals I set for myself…”

Just like her foundation’s projects, her focus is always on tomorrow. In her eyes, you can sense that her life is a long and unpredictable road with possibilities lying at every turn. In the meantime, she continues to create opportunities for thousands of girls in mainland China, and at the same time, does not stop creating both tangible and intangible wealth for herself.