Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok dies at 83

HONG KONG, Oct 29 (Reuters) Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung, whose business and political influence and close ties to Beijing earned him the nickname ''the Godfather'', has died in the Chinese capital aged 83, China reported today.

The official Beijing Youth Daily cited sources confirming his death but gave no details. Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post said he had been suffering from cancer.

Fok, a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), died at Peking Union Medical College Hospital yesterday evening, the Post said.

Long seen as one of the Hong Kong figures best connected in Beijing, Fok was a trusted confidant of many mainland leaders.

Born in 1923 at Panyu, in Guangdong province which borders Hong Kong, Fok rose from humble roots to become one of the city's wealthiest and most powerful men.

Stories of his colourful past abound, including gun-running for the Communists during the 1950-53 Korean War and his passion for sport, especially soccer.

In 1993, with Hong Kong still under British colonial rule, Beijing made Fok a vice chairman of the CPPCC, the Chinese parliament's main consultative body, putting him in the same league as the country's most senior leaders.

Only one other Hong Kong citizen, former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, holds an equivalent position.

Fok's power-broking credentials were underlined before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, when he was reported to have introduced Tung to then Chinese President Jiang Zemin, paving the way for the low-key shipping magnate to become the territory's first leader under Chinese rule.

Almost a decade earlier, Fok had backed a 120 million dollars fund to bail out Tung's struggling business.

''PATRIOTIC CAPITALIST'' Fok's journey into Beijing's political inner sanctum began half a century ago during the Korean War, when he defied a United Nations embargo to smuggle vital medical supplies, including penicillin, into mainland China. It was also widely claimed, though never proven, that he smuggled guns over the border to further the Communist cause.

His patriotism was generously repaid. The Communists granted him various business monopolies, including export of sand for construction, which all but guaranteed his fortune. He became known in Beijing as the ''Patriotic Capitalist''.

In 2006, Forbes magazine ranked him the 181st most wealthy man in the world, with an estimated net worth of 3.7 billion dollars. His business empire includes property, ports and casinos in the former Portugese enclave of Macau.

Despite the trappings of power and wealth, the younger Fok could often be found playing street football with the territory's top players on downtown concrete pitches.

In 1970 he flew the Brazilian team Santos, including star player Pele, to Hong Kong for an exhibition match -- an event which caused a great sensation in the city.

Fok was active in charitable work through the Fok Ying Tung foundation which he founded in 1984. In 2005, he donated a little over 100 million dollars to a local university.

REUTERS SP VV0943