Li Ka-shing’s education is a primary school diploma.
On July 29, 1928, Li Ka-shing was born into a family in Mianxian Lane, Beimen Street, Chaoan County, Chaozhou, Guangdong. At the age of 5, he entered Guanhaisi Primary School. On July 7, 1937, Japan's war of aggression against China broke out. In 1938, the Japanese army bombed Chaozhou. In June 1939, Li Ka-shing, who had just entered junior high school, moved to Hong Kong with his family, and the family stayed at the home of his uncle Zhuang Jing'an.
On December 8, 1941, the Pacific War broke out. On Christmas Eve, the British army in Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese army. The Hong Kong dollar continued to depreciate and prices soared, making the Li family's life increasingly difficult. At this time, his father Li Yunjing contracted lung disease due to overwork.
In the winter of 1943, Li Yunjing was seriously ill. He called Li Ka-shing to his bedside and warned him softly: It is better to ask for yourself than to ask for others. Don't lose heart when you are frustrated, and don't get carried away when you are proud. His father, Li Yunjing, died of illness. In order to support his mother and three younger siblings, Li Ka-shing was forced to drop out of school and enter the society to make a living. His fellow villagers who knew how to read fortune-telling thought that he had "lifeless eyes and a thin frame, and he may not be able to become a great person in the future."
In August 1945, Japan surrendered. Li Ka-shing was transferred to a watch shop on Kosheng Street as a clerk and learned the skills of watch assembly and repair.
In 1947, because Li Ka-shing did not want to be dependent on others for a long time, he worked as a salesman in a hardware factory and began a sales career that Hong Kong people call "street boy". In 1948, due to his outstanding sales performance, 20-year-old Li Ka-shing was promoted to the general manager of the Plastic Flower Factory.
Li Ka-shing worked hard to start a business:
In 1950, Li Ka-shing, who was only 22 years old, used US$7,000 saved from his usual frugality to establish the Yangtze River Plastic Factory in Shau Kei Wan. "Yangtze River" means "the Yangtze River does not choose small streams, so it can spread thousands of miles". In the early days of setting up the factory, there were quality accidents. Li Ka-shing overcame the difficulties with the encouragement of his cousin Zhuang Yueming.
In 1955, the Changjiang Plastic Factory finally turned around, and its production and sales gradually improved. In 1957, Li Ka-shing was reading the new issue of the English version of "Plastics" magazine and accidentally saw a news that an Italian company was using plastic raw materials to make plastic flowers and was dumping them in the European and American markets. This news made Li Ka-shing realize that plastic flowers will also become popular in Hong Kong. So Li Ka-shing went to Italy for inspection. After returning to Hong Kong, he was the first to launch plastic flowers, which immediately became a hot-selling product.
Li Ka-shing quickly developed plastic flowers in Hong Kong, filling a gap in the Hong Kong market. Li Ka-shing takes the sales route of high quality and low price, and most dealers are very happy to sign supply and sales contracts based on Li Ka-shing's quotation. In order to buy out the rights, some offer to pay a 50% deposit in advance. Li Ka-shing set off a new consumer trend in Hong Kong, and the Yangtze River Plastic Factory suddenly became famous in the Hong Kong plastics industry from an unknown small factory.