Cross-sector leaders tackle Asia’s widening healthspan-wealthspan divide at Soho House
A New Forum for Asia’s Longevity Economy
MaestroWellness, a Hong Kong-based wellness platform, has announced the inaugural Build Well Live Well Summit, a cross-sector gathering bringing together policymakers, healthcare leaders, investors, technology entrepreneurs and public health advocates to address one of Asia’s most pressing structural challenges: how to extend not just lifespan but healthspan – the years people live in good health – across a rapidly ageing population of nearly five billion people. The event, scheduled for March 26, 2026, at Soho House Hong Kong in Sheung Wan, will run from 8.30am to 6.00pm with an evening VIP cocktail reception. The Summit is supported by InvestHK, the government body responsible for promoting foreign direct investment into the city, and by financial infrastructure sponsor Finmo.
The Demographic Reality Behind the Summit
Asia is ageing at unprecedented speed. By 2050, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to have 25.9 percent of its population aged 60 or above – a demographic shift that will place extraordinary pressure on healthcare systems, retirement infrastructure and economic productivity across every major economy in the region. Hong Kong itself leads the world in life expectancy, with an average exceeding 85 years. That longevity is an achievement. But it is also a challenge, because financial resilience, physical health, cognitive vitality and social connectedness have not kept pace with raw life expectancy data. Many Hong Kongers are living longer than previous generations while spending more of those additional years in poor health, financial insecurity or social isolation. The Build Well Live Well Summit positions itself as a platform for the rigorous, evidence-based conversation these realities demand.
Who Will Speak and Why It Matters
Keynote speakers include Bernard Chan GBM, GBS, JP, one of Hong Kong’s most respected business and civic leaders, and Frederick Chavalit Tsao, fourth-generation steward of Tsao Pao Chee with over 120 years of family enterprise history and a commitment to wellbeing economics. Gordon Watson, Senior Advisor to the AXA Group, will address the investment dimensions of longevity risk. Clinical voices include Dr Felix Lee, Co-CEO of The GBA Healthcare Group, who will speak to how healthcare systems must evolve from episodic treatment toward integrated prevention ecosystems. Dr Gloria Jian, founder of Health Cell Cycle, will present evidence-based approaches to longevity science. Jacky Lio, Chief Medical Officer of Bowtie, Hong Kong’s first virtual insurer, will discuss how insurance design can be redesigned to incentivise preventive health behaviours rather than simply compensating for illness.
From Biohacking to Policy to Capital
The Summit’s programme spans seven thematic panels: society-led wellness, biohacking the human operating system, longevity ecosystems, unconventional wellbeing, technology infrastructure, building the future now, and wellness capital. The biohacking panel will explore practical interventions including sleep optimisation, breathing techniques, nutrition science and wearable health monitoring. A Shark Tank-style pitch session will spotlight Asia’s most promising health and wellness startups, giving founders direct access to venture capital and strategic partners. The World Health Organization’s ageing programme has documented the structural investments required to build age-friendly societies and healthcare systems.
Longevity as a Freedom Issue
There is a dimension to the longevity conversation in Hong Kong that polite policy forums rarely address directly: the relationship between political freedom and healthy ageing. Research consistently shows that social connectedness, sense of control over one’s life, psychological security and civic engagement are among the most powerful predictors of healthy longevity. A population living under political anxiety, diminished civil liberties and constrained freedom of expression faces structural barriers to healthy ageing that no wellness programme can fully offset. The Lancet has published research demonstrating the links between political environment, stress, and population health outcomes. The Build Well Live Well Summit will, one hopes, find space for that conversation alongside the biohacking panels and investment pitches. Jasmine Liu, Founder and CEO of MaestroWellness, has described the Summit as a catalyst for conscious leadership and purposeful action. In a city that has seen its political leadership become less responsive to citizen concerns, the word conscious carries particular weight.
Pui Yi Cheung
Economy & Labor Journalist, Apple Daily UK
Contact: puiyi.cheung@appledaily.uk
Pui Yi Cheung is an economy and labor journalist with expertise in employment trends, small business dynamics, and workers’ rights. Educated at a respected UK journalism school, she received formal training in economic reporting, data literacy, and investigative techniques, equipping her to cover complex financial topics accurately.
She has contributed to Apple Daily and other liberal Chinese newspapers, reporting on wage policy, employment conditions, labor organizing, and the economic challenges facing diaspora communities. Her work emphasizes firsthand interviews and careful examination of official statistics and regulatory documents.
Pui Yi brings real newsroom experience in translating economic data into accessible reporting without sacrificing accuracy. She is known for methodical fact-checking and for consulting independent experts when covering technical subjects.
Her authority is reinforced by consistent editorial oversight and adherence to transparency standards, including clear sourcing and prompt corrections when required.
At Apple Daily UK, Pui Yi Cheung produces trustworthy economic journalism grounded in evidence, professional experience, and public-interest reporting.
