Chau Chak Wing

Chau Chak-wing (born 1949), is a Chinese-Australian property developer known for his Kingold Group business based in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China (PRC).

Journalists and think tanks have reported on Chau's links to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities and interests throughout his career.

Chau was born in Guangdong Province, PRC.

He has been described as being either of Chaozhou or Shantou heritage.

Chau emigrated from Chaozhou to Hong Kong in the 1970s.

After further emigrating to Australia in the 1980s, he returned to live in Guangdong in 1988.

In the early 1990s, Chau founded the Kingold Group (sometimes referred to as the Qiao Xin Group).

The group's main interests are property, finance, education, hospitality, healthcare and media.

Chau has been noted as being friends with many individuals holding governmental power in Guangdong at one time, including Xie Fei (Guangdong CCP committee secretary from 1991 to 1998) and Lin Shusen (Guangzhou CCP deputy committee secretary in 1997 and party secretary in 2002).

Chau stated his connections were due to his chairing of business groups.

In 2001, Chau joint-ventured with the Guangzhou, PRC, provincial government's Yangcheng Evening News to commence publishing the New Express Daily there.

In 2004, Chau received an honorary doctorate from Keuka College in the United States.

In 2004, Chau established the pro-Beijing The Australian New Express Daily, a simplified character Chinese-language newspaper published in Australia under the management of his daughter Winky Chow, a former ethnic policy affairs adviser to New South Wales State Premier Bob Carr.

Carr presided over its official launch.

The newspaper has engaged directly in promotion of Chinese government interests in Australia.

In September 2005, Chau founded the Australia China Friendship and Exchange Association (ACFEA).

Although Chau was never charged or accused of wrongdoing, he has also had documented ties to the CCP's United Front Work Department since at least 2007.

This was detailed in a file written by the former US Consul General Robert Goldberg, who was based in Guangzhou.

In 2009, Chau told The Age in an interview, "'[t]he Chinese government has found this newspaper very commendable because we never have any negative reporting. Chinese foreign policy expert Bates Gill cited The Australian New Express Daily'' as an example of Chinese government influence.

In May 2009, Chau, then still domiciled in Guangzhou, donated CN¥3 million to a Chinese Public Security Bureau training centre in order that society "be well managed".

In 2010, Chau contributed A$20 million, in instalments over ten years, towards the A$150 million construction cost of the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building, part of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), together with an ancillary A$5 million scholarship fund.

The file was initially distributed to American intelligence agencies, but in 2010 was in a leaked diplomatic cable.

Since August 2011, Chau has served as the chairman for the Guangdong Huaxing Bank, previously serving as a director.

The Dr Chau Chak Wing building was completed in 2013.

In 2013, the FBI alleged Sheri Yan (Shiwei Yan), an Australian-Chinese suspected by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) of Chinese intelligence activity, used A$200,000 of Chau's money to bribe John Ashe to attend a conference held at Chau's Imperial Springs resort in China.

Yan pleaded guilty to bribery charges and served a 20-month prison sentence.

Chau was awarded an honorary doctorate by UTS in 2014, shortly after completion of the UTS building bearing his name.

From 2014 to 2018, Chau donated approximately A$4 million to the two major Australian political parties.

Chau was named in a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe in the case of bribery of the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, John Ashe.

In 2015, Chau paid a reported $70 million to buy the mansion 'La Mer' from Australian billionaire James Packer.

In 2015, another A$15 million was contributed for the construction of the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.

In 2015, Chau donated A$60,000 to the Australian War Memorial for the Anzac Diversity Education Program.

He donated an additional A$500,000 for the creation of the Kingold Education and Media Centre.

In 2016, Chau brought defamation proceedings against Nationwide News Pty Ltd, the publisher of The Daily Telegraph and its sister company News Life Media Pty Ltd in the Federal Court of Australia, claiming that articles published in 2015 conveyed imputations that he himself had “bribed Mr. John Ashe”.

The Australian New Express Daily ceased printing newspapers in 2019 and eventually stopped updating its websites and social media in 2021.

Chau has three children, including his son, Eric, and daughter, Winky.

Eric attended the University of Technology Sydney, studying design.

In 2019, Chau established the Chau Chak Wing Foundation.

In November 2019, Chau donated A$500,000 to Soldier On, an Australian organization dedicated to supporting veterans and their families, and has pledged additional donations.

The museum opened in 2020.