New World Development puts Harvard-educated scion in charge of China flagship unit amid succession plan at Hong Kong property empire

New World Development has appointed Adrian Cheng Chi-kong as head of its property business in mainland China, entrenching his position as the next-generation successor at Hong Kong’s third-largest hotel-and-property empire by market value.

Cheng has been named the executive chairman of New World China Land, the group’s flagship property arm in the world’s second-largest economy, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The 40-year old Harvard-educated executive is the eldest of six children of current group chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun.

Other Hong Kong ageing tycoons have also put their succession plans in place over the past years, such as those at CK Hutchison, Henderson Land and K. Wah International. Such a plan is typically cherished as good governance by investors seeking to limit the key-person risks arising from unexpected family spats or business scandals.

The decision strengthened his position as the next in line to take over the HK$104 billion (US$13.4 billion) property group founded by the late Cheng Yu-tung. The family’s other business interests include the world’s second-largest jewellery retailing group under the Chow Tai Fook brand.

Adrian Cheng, who was effectively elevated to the number two position in the group in 2015, will oversee the Chinese market that accounted for about one-third of the group’s revenue and 39 per cent of gross profits in 2019.

“We are steadily increasing investment in the mainland Chinese market at a pace in line with local regulations,” he said in the statement. New World China will continue to respond favourably to national policies and make strategic developments in the Greater Bay Area, he added.