Cai Yanxiong

Cai Yanxiong’s family came from the village of Wuchang, in Fengshun county in Guangdong province to become wealthy businesspeople in Thailand. His parents sent him back to his native region in order to give him a Chinese cultural education. Later, Cai attended the Department of Education of the Jinan University in Shanghai and graduated in 1938. His tall figure allowed him to improve his basketball skills and to become a well-known figure in Shanghai’s sports community, famous for his dribblings. In 1935 Cai Yanxiong represented Shanghai and was selected as a member of the Chinese basketball team for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. After three weeks of travelling at sea the team was eliminated in the preliminaries. Subsequently Cai continued to represent Shanghai, his university and China with great success. After his graduation he returned to Thailand to play for the strong Thai Hualian basketball team, which included several overseas Chinese players.

After the founding the People’s Republic of China Cai Yanxiong served as deputy director of the Shanghai Sports Federation and the Guangdong Provincial Sports Committee, as a committee member of the All China Sports Federation, as vice chairman of the Guangdong branch of the All China Sports Federation, and as head coach of the men’s and women’s basketball team of the Guangzhou Army. Cai was also a multiple delegate for the People’s Congress of Guangdong Province and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Already in the 1950s he started business activities to supply China with technology that was not available in the country itself. After his retirement in 1977, Cai Yanxiong moved to Hong Kong to become of Hong Kong Liming Enterprise Co., Ltd, a producer of electronic parts.