Linda Tsao Yang, 93, was born in Shanghai and went on to an illustrious career in United States banking. She was awarded honorary citizenship in 2016 for her work in the cleanup of Suzhou Creek and for her efforts in promoting friendly relations between Shanghai and California.

“I could not help shedding tears of joy and gratitude when I heard that the government and people of my birthplace were giving me such a high honor, 70 years after I left the city to study and then live in the US,” said Yang, chairwoman emeritus of the Hong Kong-based Asian Corporate Governance Association.

She left Shanghai in 1946 to study banking and international finance at Columbia University in New York. After graduation, she stayed and worked in banking in the US.

When she returned to Shanghai in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, she visited Suzhou Creek and saw a downtown waterway that was smelly and choked by garbage and waste.

Yang was named US ambassador and executive director of the board of the Asian Development Bank in Manila from 1993 to 1999. During her tenure, she helped arrange US$300 million in funding for the Suzhou Creek environmental treatment project.

Yang called it an important undertaking because of the positive impact it would have on millions of people in Shanghai.

Suzhou Creek today wends through a hub of culture-related studios and businesses, with museums and greenbelts.

In addition to her duties as a banker, Yang is a long-time member and a former director of the Committee of 100, which is dedicated to promoting relations between the US and China.

She is a frequent speaker on matters related to the economic and social development of China and has promoted closer relationships between public and private sectors to boost international finance and trade.