Chen was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, Republic of China in 1923.[3] His family was poor and he left school at the age of 12 to serve as an apprentice to a silk merchant. His father was reportedly a Shanghai-based industrialist, mainly in textiles. When Chen was 22 years old, he was already chief manager of his family business and owned several shops and factories in Shanghai and Ningbo.[4] In 1949, Chen's family shifted to Hong Kong and set up in business there.[2][5] He set up a successful cotton-yarn maker called Nan Fung Mill.
In 1954, he established Nan Fung Textiles, becoming chairman, and Nan Fung Development Limited.[2][6] The company also developed interests in shipping.[7][8]
When diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2009, Chen handed over control of his business to his younger daughter Vivien Chen, who had been part of the business since 1981.[9] In 2010, his wife Yang Foo Oi and elder daughter Angela, a trained architect who lived in the United States and now in Hong Kong, sued younger daughter Vivian, alleging that Chen was misled into transferring assets to a trust fund controlled by Vivian.[10] Yang divorced him in 2011.[2][11]
Chen died on 17 June 2012 at the age of 89, reportedly of prostate cancer.[2][5] At his death he was ranked by Forbes as the 14th wealthiest person in Hong Kong, with a net worth of US$2.6 billion,[7][12] though earlier in his career he had been among the top ten.[13]
Chen was married to Yang Foo Oi until 2011, when the couple divorced.[citation needed] They had two daughters.[2] As a devout Buddhist, Chen founded the eponymous D.H. Chen Foundation, which provides charity services in education, welfare and medicine.[7]
