The Fang family with roots in Haimen, Nantong, Jiangsu, China has long had a prominent position in Hong Kong.
[4][5] Fang was credited with modernizing Hong Kong's textile & garment industry, by introducing Western production and business formats and employing vertical-integration practices.
Through Fang Brothers Holdings, he diversified beyond the textile industry, expanding into retail & trading, property development, electronics, energy storage, beverages, and more.
[9][10] Fang started the retailing & trading arm in 1973, which included Pringle of Scotland, Episode, Jessica, and Color Eighteen amongst other owned brands, operating over 1,000 stores worldwide.
[7][11] Knitwear brand Pringle of Scotland, acquired in 2000, holds a royal warrant and is one of the world's oldest continually operating fashion companies.
[12][13][14] GRI, a subsidiary operating Fang's licensing and franchising business, distributed a wide range of brands, including being the exclusive licensee of Nine West, Anne Klein New York, and Easy Spirit in Asia and Europe.
[15][16] Fang's electronics arm managed Yeebo International Holdings (SEHK: 259), a manufacturer of liquid crystal displays, OLED, and eyewear.
Aside from its core business, in 2013, Nantong Jianghai developed lithium-ion supercapacitor technology; in 2018, established a joint venture with Yageo to manufacture automotive film capacitors.
[22] Amongst those businesses included hypermarket chain Times Ltd, which he sold to Lotte Shopping in 2009 for US$630 million, remaining as the largest acquisition of a Chinese company by a Korean firm to date.