Donald Tsang was born in Hong Kong in October 1944. Graduated from the Hong Kong's Wah Yan College in 1964 he entered Harvard University in 1981 and received a Master's degree in Public Administration.

Tsang joined the Civil Service in January 1967 and has held many positions in the Administration dealing with finance, trade etc. Tsang became the Director-General of Trade in 1991. In May 1993, he was promoted to Secretary for the Treasury. In September 1995, Tsang was appointed Financial Secretary, the first Chinese to hold the position.

On July 1, 1997, as nominated by Tung Chee-hwa, then Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Tsang was appointed by the Central People's Government as the first Financial Secretary in the HKSAR. He became the Chief Secretary for Administration in May 2001.

On March 12, 2005, the central government approved Tung Chee-hwa's request for resignation as the HKSAR Chief Executive and Donald Tsang became the Acting Chief Executive of the HKSAR in his capacity of Chief Secretary for Administration in line with the Basic Law of the HKSAR. On June 1 the State Council approved his request for resignation as the Chief Secretary for Administration to stand for election of chief executive.

Donald Tsang received honorary doctorates from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He received the Grand Bauhinia Medal from the HKSAR in June 2002 for years of diligent service to Hong Kong and outstanding achievements.

During the election campaign for chief executive, Tsang said with emotion that he came from an ordinary Hong Kong family, and, like most young people in Hong Kong, he was once an ordinary student, a salesman busy earning a living and a civil servant of the citizens. "Were it not for Hong Kong's return to the motherland to realize Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong and a high autonomy, were it not for the spur and trust of the central government and Hong Kong people, I would not be able to assume the core post in the HKSAR government," Tsang said.

By People's Daily Online