Ronna Chao is the chairman of Novetex Textiles, CEO of Novel Investment Partners and director of Novelpark Investments, some of the many companies established by her grandfather Chao Kuang Piu, one of the most important figures in Hong Kong when the city was an international textiles centre.

Ronna Chao began her career in New York, working as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs and in licensing for Tommy Hilfiger, before returning to Hong Kong to join the family business in 2010. She has been instrumental in guiding the industry into a more sustainable future with initiative such as The Billie, a pioneering waterless textile upcycling system. She is also the CEO of Bai Xian Asia Institute, an organisation founded by her father, Ronald Chao; the institute runs the Asian Future Leaders Scholarship Programme, which pays for up to 100 scholars each year to study abroad at partner universities throughout East Asia.

A mother of three, she is also a council member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, a member of the Board of Directors of Mother’s Choice and a trustee of Asia Society Hong Kong Center.