# Jimmy Lai

_Hong Kong businessman and activist (born 1947)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/jimmy-lai
Last updated: 2026-11-03

> Lai Chee-ying, also known as Jimmy Lai, is a Hong Kong businessman, politician, and political prisoner. He founded the clothing retailer Giordano, the media company Next Digital, and the newspaper Apple Daily. He is one of the main contributors to Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, especially to the Democratic Party. A British citizen since 1994, he was imprisoned in 2020 and his business operations shuttered under pressure from the Chinese government.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 8 December 1947 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1447095#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Guangzhou ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1447095#P19))
- **Citizenship:** People's Republic of China; British Hong Kong ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1447095#P27))
- **Occupation:** entrepreneur; businessperson ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1447095#P106))
- **Awards:** World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1447095#P166))
- **X (Twitter):** JimmyLaiApple ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1447095#P2002))

## Questions

**When was Jimmy Lai born?**  
Jimmy Lai was born on 8 December 1947 in Guangzhou.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Jimmy Lai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Lai) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q1447095](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1447095) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Jimmy Lai (cropped).jpg by Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jimmy_Lai_(cropped).jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Jimmy Lai, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Jimmy Lai (cropped).jpg — Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Jimmy Lai". DigiNepal. Last updated 3 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/jimmy-lai. Retrieved 7 November 2026.