Leung Chun-ying

Leung Chun-ying was born in Hong Kong in 1954. He studied surveying at Bristol Polytechnic in the United Kingdom and built a career in property valuation and consultancy, serving as Chairman of DTZ Debenham Tie Leung's Hong Kong and China operations. He participated in the Basic Law Consultative Committee in the 1980s and, following Hong Kong's handover in 1997, served on the Executive Council, serving continuously as its Convenor of Non-Official Members from July 1999 to September 2011 — more than twelve years.

In March 2012, Leung won the Chief Executive election with 689 votes, defeating Henry Tang, and served as Hong Kong's fourth Chief Executive until 2017. In October 2014, Australian media revealed that, while serving as Executive Council Convenor and around the time he announced his candidacy for Chief Executive, Leung had secretly contracted with the Australian firm UGL to receive HK$50 million upon his election; Leung said the payment was a severance arrangement unrelated to Hong Kong affairs and did not require declaration or taxation. The ICAC investigated the matter for four years, and in December 2018 the Department of Justice announced there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. During his tenure, the 79-day Umbrella Movement erupted from 26 September to 15 December 2014; his administration ordered police to deploy tear gas against protesters on 28 September, after which the occupation expanded to multiple districts across Hong Kong. Leung announced in 2017 that he would not seek re-election, and was elected that year as an additional Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.