Tung was born in Shanghai on May 1937 and later moved to Hong Kong with his family.
   
He studied in Britain and graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree in marine engineering.
   
He then worked for General Electric and his family business in the United States before returning to Hong Kong in 1969 to join the family business.
   
Tung became a member of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Consultative Committee for the Basic Law of HKSAR in 1985.
   
In 1992, he became one of the first group of advisors on HKSAR affairs. He served as a member of Executive Council of HKSAR between 1992 and 1996 and vice chairman of the HKSAR Preparatory Committee of the National People's Congress in 1995.
   
On December 11, 1996, Tung won by a wide margin the first election of the chief executive of HKSAR.
   
He was formally appointed by the State Council on December 16, 1996 and assumed office as the first Chief Executive of HKSAR on July 1, 1997 for a five-year term.
   
Tung was re-elected as the HKSAR Chief Executive on February 28, 2002 with the nomination by 714 of the 794 Electoral Committee members.

He was a member of the eighth CPPCC National Committee, and was inducted as a member into the 10th CPPCC National Committee in February 2005.

On March 12, 2005, Tung Chee Hwa was elected vice chairman of the 10th CPPCC National Committee at the closing meeting of CPPCC's annual session.