George Kwok Bew

Advertising sign for Wing San and Co., circa 1935

Kwok cofounded[4] and partially owned Sydney's first fruits and vegetables wholesale store, Wing Sang and Co.[1] (Chinese: 永生果阑, also referred to as "Wing San").[5] and was also a partner of Australian banana importer Sang on Tiy (生安泰),[6] a merger company formed by Wing Sang and two other fruit companies Wing On and Tiy Sang.[2] Around 1899, he was already at full swing, handling around six thousand banana bunches from North Queensland every week.[7][8] Kwok was regarded as one of the most prominent fruit merchants then in Sydney[2] and expanded his business interests into other areas, such as shipping. Recognised as a leader amongst Chinese merchants, especially the community of merchants from Heung Shan,[1] Kwok heavily petitioned against the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 and was strongly against racism.[9] He became a naturalised citizen of Australia in 1901.[10]

Kwok became an associate of Chinese reformist politician-in-exile Liang Qichao and initially leaned towards the reformist goal of establishing a constitutional monarchy in China. He was a founder of the Australian chapter of the Chinese Empire Reform Association in 1901. However, he switched his support to the republican revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, who also hailed from Heung Shan. In support of the republican cause, Kwok established a republican newspaper in Sydney in 1914, which circulated in Australia and across the Pacific and South East Asia. Kwok became the founding president of the Chinese Nationalist League of Sydney (Kuomingtang) in 1916.[1][6]

Kwok's cousin James Gock Lock (Kwok Lok) had initially worked for Kwok Bew in Sydney at Wing Sang, and later with George, and James' brothers Philip Gock Chin (Kwok Chuen) and William Gock Son (Kwok Sun), opened their own fruit and vegetable business named Wing On & Co., also in Sydney's Chinatown.[1] After Wing On merged with Wing Sang and Tiy Sang to form Sang On Tiy, James was put in charge of procuring land for banana plantations on behalf of Sang On Tiy in Fiji, securing a direct supply of imported bananas for Wing On Tiy.

In 1917, Kwok and his family relocated to Shanghai, China, following an invitation from revolutionary Chinese leader Sun Yat Sen.[11]

James, Philip and William left Australia in 1907 to found the Wing On Company, a department store modelled after Anthony Hordern & Sons, in Hong Kong. In 1918, George partnered with the three cousins to open a Wing On store in Shanghai, which became one of the "four great companies" that introduced the modern department store format to Shanghai. Two of George's partners at Wing Sang followed the same route, and founded Sincere and The Sun, two of the other "four great companies". George Kwok became the managing director of Wing On and steered its growth towards a conglomerate involved in retail, banking and manufacturing.[1]

In 1928, the Kuomintang government took Shanghai in the Northern Expedition and the Shanghai Mint became the Central Mint of the Republic of China. George Kwok was appointed head of the Central Mint, and served an important role in the management of China's economy alongside finance minister T. V. Soong.[11]