HONG KONG - Prominent entrepreneur Ho Tsu-kwok was mourned at the Hong Kong Funeral Home over the weekend and remembered for his contributions to the country as well as to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Among those who sent mourning wreaths on Saturday were Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, and Xia Baolong, head of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council. Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, paid his respects to Ho at the funeral home.

Ho died of illness at the age of 75 on June 11 in Hong Kong, said an official statement on Saturday.

A burial ceremony for Ho was held at the Hong Kong Funeral Home Sunday morning, before his coffin was moved to the cemetery at noon.

Leung, Peter Lam Kin-ngok, standing committee member of the CPPCC National Committee and chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the city’s Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, and Legislative Council President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, among others, were present.

Ho, born in Shanghai in June 1949, was former chairman of Hong Kong Tobacco Co and former chairman of Sing Tao News Corp.

He was also a former member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, the country’s top political advisory body.

The statement hailed Ho as a renowned patriotic entrepreneur and “a close friend of the Communist Party of China”, who loved the country and the HKSAR, firmly supported the “one country, two systems” policy and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, and supported the HKSAR government’s efforts in exercising law-based governance.

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Ho played a significant role in ensuring Hong Kong’s smooth transition, its return to the motherland, and its long-term prosperity and stability, the statement said. He was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2014.

Ho also supported the country’s reform and opening-up, and was actively involved in economic development and philanthropic efforts on the Chinese mainland, the statement added.

After Ho passing, leaders of the central authorities sent condolences to his family through various means. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who described Ho as “a man of benevolence”, expressed sorrow and extended condolences to his family.