Guotai Junan International provided Yim Fung with platform to build on his career - something that has kept him glued to the company for the past 18 years.

Now chairman and chief executive officer of the company, he joined Junan Securities in Shenzhen in 1993 when the group was just established and after he had graduated from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a doctoral degree in economics in 1990.

Yim also has a bachelor's degree in environment engineering from Tsinghua University, where he had studied for seven years. He said he had been deeply influenced by the practical and diligent attitude he had cultivated at the prestigious institution.

He also studied at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences majoring in the environment and economics.

After graduation, he found his way in Shenzhen after a brief working stint at the Chinese mainland's State Planning Commission.

"The securities business is an emerging industry which made its mark in 1992," Yim tells China Daily. When he first arrived in Shenzhen, he had developed immense interest in the securities trade after seeing people trading in stocks on the streets.

In 1999, he was assigned by the newly merged Guotai Junan Securities to work in their Hong Kong branch, and today has amassed more than 25 years' experience in the securities business.

Yim is also honorary president of the Chinese Securities Association of Hong Kong. The association was founded in 2009 with only seven members, and has seen its membership grow to more than 100, covering brokerages and futures companies.

Talking about work-life balance, he says it's important to have a good rest and be ready for work the next day.

In his spare time, he enjoys walking and exercising, and spends an hour every day taking a stroll by the harborside.

tingduan@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 05/12/2017 page9)