Professor Lau Siu-kai was born in Hong Kong in 1947. He received his Bachelor of Social Science (First Class Honour) degree from the University of Hong Kong in 1971, majoring in sociology and economics. In 1975, he was awarded Ph.D. in sociology by the University of Minnesota, specializing in social development and political sociology.

Professor Lau taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong since 1975 and was promoted to Chair Professor in Sociology in 1990. He retired from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2007 and was appointed Emeritus Professor of Sociology since then.

Professor Lau was appointed as Hong Kong Affairs Advisor by the Chinese Government in 1993-1997. He was appointed as Member of the Preliminary Working Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in 1993-1995. The same body appointed him as Member of the Preparatory Committee for the HKSAR in 1996-1997. In 2002-2012 Professor Lau was Head of the Central Policy Unit of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Professor Lau has been Member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference since 2003 and Vice-President of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies since 2013.

Professor Lau’s research interests include social and political development, society and politics in Hong Kong and international politics. His publications include Society and Politics in Hong Kong (1982), The Ethos of the Hong Kong Chinese (with Kuan Hsin-chi) (1988), Hong Kong Politics in the Transitional Period (in Chinese)(1996), Governance and New Regime Building in Hong Kong Fifteen Years Since the Handover (in Chinese)(2012), Hong Kong Politics After the Handover (in Chinese)(2013), The Unique Democratic Path of Hong Kong (in Chinese)(2014), as well as articles in local, Mainland and international scholarly journals.