"I must admit at the beginning there were some difficult times. But after a year, I'm so glad that I've a team of colleagues that are very dedicated and hard working. They are professional and we have established a very good relationship," he said.

Lo, the 66-year-old chairman of Shui On Group, joined the authority as a board member in January 2013 and took the helm after former chairman Marvin Cheung Kin-tung abruptly quit citing his health in June last year.

Lo and Cheung had clashed over whether a depot for a driverless electric train should be built under a big shopping centre, to be erected on the current site of the Skycity Nine Eagles Golf Course between Terminal 2 and AsiaWorld-Expo.

"All I wanted was to make better use of this very precious land resource, nothing else," said Lo, who had threatened to quit the board over the row in late 2013.

But that dispute ended when the government suddenly announced in late May last year that Lo, a staunch supporter of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, would take over as chairman of the authority with immediate effect after an increasingly ill Cheung abruptly quit.

Cheung died at the age of 67 in September, three months after he left the airport job. He had long battled leukaemia.

In an unusual development, Lo was required to serve for one year only before swapping jobs with Trade Development Council chairman Jack So Chak-kwong.

That deal led to speculation that the high-profile row between Lo and Cheung over the commercial project at the airport had soured relations between Lo and his other colleagues.

But critics also saw it as a good opportunity for Lo to press ahead with his plan to build the mall on the golf course site.

As expected, the preliminary designs for the mall - which will be Hong Kong's biggest - were unveiled last week, and it is to be completed in three years.

"I insisted on sitting in those meetings when my colleagues held discussions with the designers. Even though my colleagues asked me to leave, I didn't," he laughed.

In June, Lo appointed Fred Lam Tin-fuk, who was executive director of the TDC, as the authority's chief executive, a role in which he will oversee Lo's pet project.

Lo spent decades on the mainland building a strong property portfolio in several key cities through his listed companies, Shui On Land and Socam Development.

He founded the parent company, Shui On Group, in 1971 with a HK$100,000 loan from his late father Lo Ying-shek, the founder of Great Eagle Holdings. The group now principally engages in property development, construction and construction materials businesses in Hong Kong and mainland China.

One of his landmark projects was the Xintiandi entertainment complex in Shanghai. It was completed in 2001 by converting a neighbourhood of traditional houses into a car-free dining, retail and entertainment centre.

The project was so successful that more provincial governments invited him to replicate it in their cities.

Lo was ranked Hong Kong's 36th richest person in ' latest list, with his wealth estimated at US$1.7 billion.

His personal life received attention from the gossip press when a rumour that he was secretly dating Loletta Chu Ling-ling, winner of the 1977 Miss Hong Kong Pageant, surfaced in 2000. Chu was said to be the most beautiful woman ever to win the pageant. However, both were still married at that time.

Lo divorced his wife that same year, while Chu divorced former legislator Timothy Fok Tsun-ting in 2004. The pair married in 2008.

Lo was also one of the few property developers in the city who supported Leung in his run for chief executive in 2012, while other influential business players backed his rival, former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen.

In addition to his role at the Airport Authority, Lo sits on a committee that advises the government on development on Lantau Island.

"CY wants to get more views on how to boost land supply surrounding Hong Kong airport. So far, only 20 per cent of Hong Kong land has been developed and we have to explore different ways, like speeding up planning, to increase supply," Lo said in an interview two years ago.

When asked last week whether he would consider running for chief executive in 2017, he told reporters: "You all know me well. I have zero interest in that but to do my bit for public service like the Airport Authority and my future role" at the TDC.

One of Lo's first tasks when he becomes chairman of the council on June 1 will be to lead a business delegation to Toronto and Chicago for the annual "think Asia, think Hong Kong" trade promotion campaign.

Vincent Lo

66

University of New South Wales

Chairman of Shui On Group
Chairman of Shui On Land
Chairman of China Xintiandi
Chairman of Socam Development

Justice of the Peace
Awarded Gold Bauhinia Star in 2009
A member of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

Married, two children