Zhong was born in Sussex, England on April 65438, 0928. His father's name is Walter George and his mother's name is Dorothy Jones. Zhong entered Worthing Middle School in his early years and later joined the British-Indian Shipping Company as an apprentice from 1945 to 1949. Later, he returned to England for further study, and obtained a master's degree in literature from Breazeale North College of Oxford University.

From 1954 to 1957, Zhong was employed by the colonial government in Malaya and became the civil affairs director of Aloga, Malacca. During this period, he also learned Minnan and Malay, and named Zhong after Minnan. 1957 When Malaya became independent, Zhong came to Hong Kong with his family. He was in charge of material supply in the Hong Kong government for two years, and then he was transferred to work in the New Territories. In his early years, Zhong served as a civil officer in Tsuen Wan (1959-6 1), outlying islands (196 1-62) and Yuen Long (1962-67) in New Territories, and established good relations with the squires in New Territories. 1966 was sent by the government to study comparative local government at the University of Gende in England for one year. Later, he served as Deputy Director of Home Affairs of the New Territories at 1967, and then transferred to Principal Assistant Secretary for Home Affairs, in charge of land and land administration. 1973, Zhong joined the Legislative Council as the Director of Home Affairs of the New Territories and served as a member of 14.

As mentioned above, Zhong served as the Director of Home Affairs of the New Territories from1973165438+1October 5 to1974 March 3/kloc-0. 1973, Zhong visited China as the vice chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association, which was the first visit by a British government official since the establishment of the China government. Later, in April 1974, he was appointed as the Secretary for Home Affairs in the New Territories and began to build a new town in Sha Tin. During his tenure, he accelerated the development of new towns in the New Territories. 1978 was appointed as a member of the Executive Committee. 19811Zhong was transferred to the post of Secretary for Home Affairs, who was in charge of local administration in Hong Kong, tried out a representative government system at the local level, and held the first district council election. In February 1985, 10, he resigned as the director of civil affairs. In June of the same year, 1985 was appointed as Chief Secretary by Governor Sir Edward Youde.

1986 65438+On February 6th, the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Edward Youde, died unfortunately during his visit to Beijing. Zhong was appointed as the acting governor of Hong Kong at a crucial moment, with a term of four months, until Sir Wilson came to Hong Kong on April 9 the following year and became the 27th governor of Hong Kong. 1987, Zhong left the civil service and worked as a special adviser under the Governor Sir Wilson for six months. In addition, 1987 to 1992 was the chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, and 1988 was the first chairman of the Hospital Authority. Zhong published his memoirs in 2004. The picture shows the English version, published by Hong Kong University Press.

Zhong retired at the age of 60 according to the government practice, and chose to stay in Hong Kong and live in his new home "Longjing" on Qingshan Road near Qinglongtou. 1994 The headline of the new English newspaper "Orient Express" is "How can a clock afford a cheap house". But he lost his beloved wife in 2002. Besides, Zhong occasionally writes articles for the South China Morning Post and expresses his views on Hong Kong affairs from time to time. In 2004, Zhong published his memoir Touch the Stone. The Chinese translation of this book is Shi Nod-Memoirs of Zhong, translated by Shi.

In 2005, Zhong was summoned by the Legislative Council to explain his role in the Discovery Bay development project in the 1970s. The incident originated from the sharp rise in property prices in Discovery Bay nearby after the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, which made many people suspect that the original development plan was abandoned. According to the original development plan, Discovery Bay was clearly planned as a holiday land, but it was later developed as a luxury residential land. At that time, Zhong was the Secretary for Home Affairs in the New Territories, so that he was once questioned by the outside world that he was partial to real estate developers when planning land use.