Wharton School

K.P. Chao, Chairman of Novel Enterprises, Honored by Wharton School
Dean’s Medal Awarded for Exceptional Business Leadership

June 3, 2004 — The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has awarded its highest honor, the Dean’s Medal, to K.P. Chao, chairman of the board of Novel Enterprises Ltd., for his exceptional leadership in advancing global business. Dean’s Medal recipients embody the highest ideals of service and commitment, both to the practice of business and to the advancement of society, characteristics that are central to the School’s mission. The medal will be presented June 5 at the Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Shanghai.

“K.P. Chao, one of the most renowned industrialists, has shown extraordinary vision in his accomplishments and creation of prosperity in Asia and the world,” stated Dean Patrick Harker. “Through his global entrepreneurship, he has enlarged the economy and made a difference in the lives of people worldwide. It is my honor to award him with the Dean’s Medal.”

In addition to his role as chairman of the board at Novel Enterprises, Chao serves as honorary chairman and founder of Dragon Air. He also serves as honorary consul of Mauritius to Hong Kong, advisor to Tsinghua University, advisory to Ningbo University, and holds an honorary Doctorate and professorship from Zhejiang University. He also has strong connections to the University of Pennsylvania from which his daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren graduated.

Born in Shanghai, Chao moved to Hong Kong in the early 1950s and opened Hong Kong’s first knitwear factory, expanding the knitwear market for Hong Kong’s products to Europe. He went on to build the Xiangzhou Wool-Spinning Factory in 1978, which was the first foreign-owned factory in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution. It also marked the birth of the “compensation trade” that significantly contributed to the opening of China to the world.

In the 1980s, Chao made numerous investments in China through the Hong Kong Macao International Co. Ltd., Novel Precision Manufacturing Ltd., and Novel Technology Development Ltd., ranging from chemicals and electronics to steel. These investments contributed significantly to the development of the markets in China. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Chao invested in more than 50 major projects from Heilongjiang Province to Zhuhai and Shenzhen. The textile production scale of his wool-spinning and woolen factories in Zhuhai became the largest in the world. He also has headed a number of large projects in Shanghai, including Shanghai Novel Color Picture Tube Co. Ltd., which is now China’s leading and most efficient color picture tube manufacturer; two commercial real estate developments; and three residential real estate developments of over 400,000 square meters in the center of Shanghai.

In 1974, South Ocean Knitters, a member of the Novel Group, was established. Today, the company is headquartered in Hong Kong with subsidiaries throughout Asia and an annual volume of 43 million pieces of knitted garments. Its clients include some of the largest globally branded apparel companies and retailers such as Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, GAP, Polo and Tommy Hilfiger. In 1989, seeing the growth potential of Tommy Hilfiger USA, Sportswear Holdings Ltd. (co-owned by the Chao family) acquired Tommy Hilfiger. Sportswear Holdings Ltd. later purchased Asprey & Garrard, one of the oldest jewelers in the United Kingdom.

In 1985, Chao established Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (Dragonair). It grew from a single-plane airline into the current fleet of more than 20 planes, employing more than 2,000 people and connecting major cities throughout Asia. The company has helped develop Hong Kong’s economy and role as a nexus for travel and economic cooperation between China and the surrounding region.

Chao has received numerous awards over his career. He has received the “Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette,” from the government of Japan in recognition of his distinguished and commendable service contributing to the development of Japan-Hong Kong economic relations in 2001. Chao also was awarded the “Silver Bauhinia Star” by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2002 for taking a leading part in public affairs and/or voluntary work.

About the Dean’s Medal and Wharton School
The Dean's Medal was created in 1983 to recognize outstanding leaders of private enterprise, public service, and academia. The awardees are chosen for their contributions to the enlargement of the global economy and to the improvement in the lives of people worldwide. The dean selects individuals who, through excellence in management, have truly made a difference in the creation of wealth and value, and in the promotion of a peaceful and prosperous world. Only 34 individuals have received the honor, including Reginald Jones, former chairman of General Electric, Lord Brown, chairman of BP, and Wang Dao Han, former mayor of Shanghai.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized around the world for its academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of business education. Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the nation, Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA and doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 80,000 worldwide.