Bernard Chan Pak-li (, born 1976) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

politician with the

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a Pro-Beijing camp (Hong Kong), pro-Beijing political party registered since 1992 in Hong Kong. Chaired by Gary Chan and holding 19 Legislative Council of Hong Kong ...

. Outside politics he is involved in the pharmaceuticals industry.

Scientific career

In November 2004, Chan became the director of research and development at the LifeTec Group (), a pharmaceutical company which developed recombinant protein drugs for the treatment of

liver disease Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. Liver diseases File:Ground gla ...

. In 2006, he and his friends co-founded Comprehensive Drug Enterprises, which would go on to win the Hong Kong Award for Industries' Technological Achievement Award in 2007. Chan is also a member of the Hong Kong Biotechnology Organization's Executive Council.

In politics

Chan first ran for public office in the 2007 local elections for

Kwun Tong District Council The Kwun Tong District Council () is the district council for the Kwun Tong District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Kwun Tong District Council consists of 40 members since January 2020, of which the district is divided into 4 ...

to represent Ping Shek. With the help of film director Raymond Wong — the father of his then-girlfriend Alvina Wong Yee-kwan (黃漪鈞) — in canvassing the district, Chan was able to receive 62.9% of votes cast, defeating Yun Kwun-wai of the

Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) was a pro-democracy camp, pro-democracy liberalism in Hong Kong, liberal political party from March 2006 to May 2023 in Hong Kong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Article 45 Concern Group, Basic Law Ar ...

and two independent candidates in a landslide to succeed fellow DAB member

Chan Kam-lam Chan Kam-lam, GBS, JP (; born 22 January 1949) is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing the Kowloon East constituency. He is also a core member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hon ...

in the Ping Shek seat. He was returned to the same seat in the 2011 elections with an even larger margin of victory, receiving 77.2% of votes cast to defeat Lam Sum-shing of the

League of Social Democrats The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp and stresses on "street actions" and "parlia ...

. In February 2013, Chan was nominated by the

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development heads the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Government. The Secretary is responsible for promoting commerce and the economic development of Hong Kong. The position was c ...

to become the political assistant for the

Commerce and Economic Development Bureau The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau is a policy bureau of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for policy matters on Hong Kong's external commercial relations, inward investment promotion, intellectual property protection, indust ...

, and renounced his U.S. citizenship. He resigned from the Kwun Tong District Council to take up the post, triggering a by-election.

of the DAB stated that the party respected his decision and had no intention of blocking party members from resigning to serve the public in other fields, and that there were ongoing internal discussions in the DAB about whether or not to field a candidate in the resulting by-election.

Personal life

Chan's father Chan Chung-nam (陳宗南) is an energy businessman in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

and a member of the Standing Committee of the

Zhanjiang Zhanjiang; Leizhou Min: ''Tchiàm-kōng''; previously Tsamkong or Guangzhouwan, then romanized in English as Kwangchowan or Kwangchow Wan. is a port city on the southwestern panhandle of Guangdong province in South China. The prefecture- ...

People's Political Consultative Conference. Chan himself graduated from Hong Kong's

La Salle College La Salle College (LSC; zh, t=喇沙書院, j=laa3 saa1 syu1 jyun2) is a boys' secondary school located in Kowloon City District, Hong Kong. It was established in 1932 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Catholic re ...

in 1993, and went on to receive a PhD from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

in 2003. He married Michelle Li (李淑媛), originally of

Xinyang Xinyang ( zh, s= , t=信陽 , p=Xìnyáng; Postal romanization, postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province of China, province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. It ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

in mainland China, in February 2014; the two met at a technology event in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Bernard Pak-li 1976 births Living people Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong politicians Duke University Pratt School of Engineering alumni People who renounced United States citizenship