A Hong Kong-based Internet entrepreneur and IT advocate who represented the Information Technology functional constituency in the Hong Kong Legislative Council from 2012 to 2020, Charles has been actively promoting the industry's development and digital adoption in the region since the early 1990s. He previously co-founded HKNet in 1994, and contributed to the company's expansion as a major IP telecommunications operator in Hong Kong before its acquisition by NTT Communications of Japan in 2000. He was the founding chairman of Internet Society Hong Kong, and also the former president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation and former chairman of the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association. He has been actively leading the community to promote fair competition, open data, media freedom, personal privacy, consumer protection, network security as well as entrepreneurship and digital literacy.