Lui Che-woo, founder of the Lui Che Woo Prize - Prize for World Civilization, pays tribute to world renowned Sinologist Jao Tsung-i, who passed away in Hong Kong early on Feb 6.

Jao was 101. He was hailed as the "pride of Hong Kong" by Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting in Beijing in 2015.

Lui, the property tycoon who founded the conglomerate K. Wah Group in 1955, expresses in an exclusive interview with China Daily his sorrow over Jao's death.

"Jao was an acquaintance of mine. He is a remarkable scholar in town who had devoted himself to preserving Chinese culture," Lui said.

He said he wished there could be successors in HK to inherit Jao's ethos down the road, taking up Jao's baton to preserve the long-established Chinese cultural legacies.