What's his story? Lo majored in industrial design at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, the United States, but after graduation returned to Hong Kong and his family's manufacturing business. However, he was drawn back into the design world. 'I am one of the few businessmen in Hong Kong with a design background, so for the past 15 years, every time the government or the industry has wanted to do something about design they have tended to give me a call,' he says. He started by chairing a small industrial design unit for the Hong Kong Productivity Council. When the design community started talking to the government about setting up a centre seven years ago, Lo was asked to be involved. 'Design is very important for the economic future of Hong Kong,' he says. 'We aspire to become an Asian world city ... we have to compete by doing things that add value to our products or services.'

What design styles does he appreciate? 'My taste is very broad,' says Lo, who is a collector of 20th-century Chinese art. 'However, because [my] school had a strong Bauhaus background, I would probably go for the very minimalist form-follows-function type of design. My apartment is quite minimalist. In graphic design, my favourite has to be Kan Tai-keung. He is a master of combining contemporary design with Chinese culture and was one of the pioneers in doing this 25 years ago.'