Adrian Cheng

In April 2020, during the Coronavirus disease pandemic Cheng revealed announced plans to share millions of surgical face masks free of charge, using 35 specially built vending machines placed in various locations around Hong Kong. He said: "It is heart-breaking to see so many people suffer because they simply cannot afford or get a hold of masks, which have become so costly and scarce." Cheng also donated medical masks valued at US$2.1 million to China and 2.5 million medical face masks to South Korea, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Cheng presided over the announcement of New World in September 2019 that it would be donating 3 million square feet of agricultural land to the government for public housing and related facilities, to NGOs and to charities to develop social or transitional housing. Up to a third of the land was to be donated to an affordable social housing project. He was promoted to CEO of New World Development in May 2020.

In 2017, Cheng led the Victoria Dockside redevelopment on land held by New World since the 1970s, at a cost of $2.6 billion.

He founded the K11 Art Foundation (KAF) in 2010, a vehicle for art promotion within the malls, serving as a platform for Chinese artists and their works. He initiated collaborations between the foundation and international museums and art institutions such as Palais de Tokyo in Paris and Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, showcasing Chinese artists. The foundation also has an art village in Wuhan. Cheng has been included in the ArtReview Power100, ranking 100 in 2014, 76 in 2015, and 46 in 2017.

Cheng introduced the concept of "museum-retail" by founding the K11 brand in 2008. Cheng's first K11 museum-retail mall opened in Tsim Sha Tsui (Hong Kong) in 2009, and later a branch was opened in Shanghai. K11 museum-retail shopping centers currently have branches in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Wuhan.

In March 2007, Cheng became the executive director and a board member at New World Development, a Hong Kong-listed company which is the biggest part of Chow Tai Fook Holdings. In 2012, he became joint general manager of New World Development and he also became executive vice-chairman in 2015.

Early in his career, Cheng was a banker at Goldman Sachs and UBS. Following a two-year stint at UBS AG, in 2006, Cheng joined the family business, the private Chow Tai Fook Holdings empire. He became executive director of the listed Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Group.

Adrian Cheng Chi-kong (Chinese: 鄭志剛 , born 1979) is a Hong Kong businessman. He is the CEO, executive vice-chairman and general manager of the Hong Kong-listed New World Development, executive director of jewellery company Chow Tai Fook, and founder of the K11 brand. Cheng has been on the 40 under 40 list by Fortune, and in 2017, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Cheng was born in 1979. He is the oldest child of Henry Cheng, and among his siblings are businesswoman Sonia Cheng and Brian Cheng. Cheng is the designated heir to his grandfather Cheng Yu-tung, a multi-billionaire known for founding New World Development and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, both Cheng family holdings. Cheng majored in East Asian studies at Harvard University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Cheng's father had established the New World Harvard Kennedy School Fellows Programme in an agreement with Harvard in 1998. Cheng later went to Japan to study Japanese culture for a year.