Edmund Ho Hau Wah

Edmund Ho Hau Wah was born in Macau in 1955, the son of Ho Yin, a prominent Macau Chinese community leader known as the 'King of Macau,' and a member of one of Macau's three great families. He graduated in business administration from York University in Toronto in 1978 and qualified as a Canadian chartered accountant in 1981. In 1983, when his father was diagnosed with lung cancer, the 28-year-old Ho took over the family's Tai Fung Bank as managing director and general manager, a post he held until 1999.

Ho was sworn into office at the handover ceremony on 20 December 1999, becoming the first leader of Macau following the end of Portuguese administration and its return to the People's Republic of China, and served two consecutive terms (1999–2004 and 2004–2009). During his tenure he oversaw the liberalisation of the gaming industry in 2002, which admitted foreign casino operators and drove rapid economic expansion; gaming revenue subsequently overtook Las Vegas around 2006 to make Macau the world's largest gambling market. He also advanced infrastructure development and in 2005 successfully secured UNESCO World Heritage status for the Historic Centre of Macau.

On 6 December 2006, Ao Man-long, then Secretary for Transport and Public Works, was arrested over massive corruption involving public works contracts and illegal financial dealings, having embezzled sums equivalent to 56 times his official salary — dubbed 'the largest corruption case since Macau's founding.' The following day, at Ho's request, the State Council approved Ao's removal from office. In January 2008 Macau's Court of Final Appeal sentenced Ao to 27 years in prison at first instance; following further stages of trial, his total sentence was extended to 29 years, making it the most serious official corruption scandal since the establishment of the Macau SAR.

After leaving the Chief Executive's office in 2009, Ho was elected Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in March 2010, a national-level leadership position he has continued to hold across subsequent terms.