Born in 1940 in Shanghai, China, Chan was educated at Hong Kong's Canossian College and the University of Hong Kong.
Chan's father, who was a textile manufacturer, moved the family to Hong Kong in 1948. Her mother Fang Zhaoling is a well-known painter. Her grandfather, Fang Zhenwu, was a Kuomintang general who fought against the Japanese occupation. Her uncle, Harry Fang, is a well-known doctor in Hong Kong.
In 1950, Chan's father died and her mother widowed with eight young children. With the support of Chan's grandmother, her mother not only shouldered to raise her children but also tried to pursue her career as an artist. She took two of her sons to study in England and Chan and her five other siblings were left in Hong Kong with their grandmother and uncle.
Under her grandmother's strict discipline and great expectation, Chan learned that she had a duty towards the family and the community and was expected to have integrity, to study hard and to do honourable things.
In 1959, Chan entered the University of Hong Kong as an English literature student. She earned her pocket money by working as a private tutor. She at first decided to pursue a career as a social worker upon graduated.
However in 1962, Chan joined the civil service as an administrative service cadet. She became a senior administrative officer in 1970. During this period she helped set up the Association of Female Senior Government Officers to fight for better rights for women civil servants.
Appointed Director of Social Welfare in 1980, she was severely criticized by media in 1986 for her handling of a child custody case involving a five-year-old girl taken away by force from her mentally-ill mother.
From 1987 to 1993, she took the position as Secretary for Economic Services. She was appointed Chief Secretary in 1993 to oversee the localization of the civil service.
"Iron Lady" Chan, deputy under Tung and the last British Governor Chris Patten, is one of Asia's most powerful women and was once described as being like "an iron fist in a velvet glove".
From July 1, 1997, with the end of colonial rule, she stayed on as head of the civil service, continuing to serve the Hong Kong SAR government under Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee-hwa.
After the handover, Chan was criticized for her role in the monitoring of the completion of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong International Airport, after the chaos of its opening in 1998.
After the airport event, she agreed in 1999 to delay her retirement until June 2002. But she did not display total obedience towards the Chief Executive and was told to support Mr Tung more by Beijing. She announced her resignation in January 2001 and stepped down officially in April of the same year.
Chan's public utterances have sometimes been at odds with the words of Tung. She has said before her resignation in 2001 that she would be ready to quit if asked to accept policies that clashed with her principles.
In contrast to her conservative boss, Chan has declared her unyielding support for democracy and freedom, and has called for prompt legislative elections, a credible legislature and respect for civil liberties.
Chan flew to the defence of a government radio station in 1999 after pro-Beijing figures attacked it for being too critical of the central authorities and Tung's government.
In 2001, she hit out again, at a senior Chinese official for trying to gag Hong Kong media reports on Taiwan.
In what the Hong Kong media saw as a dressing down for the high-flying Chan, PRC Vice Premier Qian Qichen told her in Beijing in September to support the unpopular Tung.
Qian's call came after months of criticism of Chan by pro-Beijing figures, with some privately floating a conspiracy theory which placed her as being behind a series of so-called "Dump Tung" moves.
Biography
Hong Kong's conscience
Quotes
See also: Politics of Hong Kong