Asia's richest businessman Li Ka-shing losing sleep over China's poor

Li Ka-shing claims he's suffering from insomnia because he can't stop worrying about China's poor

Asia's wealthiest man Li Ka-shing is losing sleep as he worries about China's inequality (AP)

Asia’s richest businessman, Li Ka-shing, is having trouble sleeping at night as he worries about income inequality in China.

Li, whose empire embraces gas and power networks as well as 3 Mobile in the UK, told students at China’s Shantou university that: “Widening inequality in wealth and opportunities, if left unaddressed, could fast become ‘the new normal’.”

The octogenarian, rated as the 15th-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes at $35 billion (£20 billion), joked: “Recently, alarmed by the fervent discussions on the web about my sleeplessness, my friends recommended a ton of effective cures for insomnia. I am very touched by their thoughtfulness.”

Li, who also owns Superdrug, added: “I am 85 years old, going on 86. I feel blessed to have seen more in life than I could remember, and happy to remember more than I have seen; so why am I sleepless in Hong Kong?”

He was speaking amid demonstrations over how Hong Kong elects its next leader in 2017.

He said: “The howl of rage from polarisation and the crippling cost of welfare dependence is a toxic cocktail commingled to stall growth and foster discontent.

"What is most unsettling for me is that trust – the bedrock of an enlightened society – is crumbling before our eyes.”