Chan Yonghua was born in Hong Kong in 1954. He participated in the Catholic church choir in high school. After graduating from high school in 1972, he was admitted to Luo Fuguo College of Education to study English, Chinese and music. In 1974, he went to Brown University College of Education for further study. In 1975, he was admitted to the Music Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979 and obtained a diploma in composition from Trinity College of Music in London. From 1980 to 1985, he received a Commonwealth Scholarship for five consecutive years to study at the University of Toronto in Canada, where he received a master's degree and a doctorate in music. He also received a scholarship from the German Ministry of Academic Exchange to participate in the 1986 Damstar Modern Music Summer School. From 1986 to 2006, he taught at the Department of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong as a professor of music (lecture) and served as the head of the department for more than ten years. In 2007, Professor Chen Yonghua worked at the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong and is currently the Deputy Director of the School of Humanities and Law and the Director of the Center for Creative and Performing Arts.

Chan Yonghua is a prolific composer. In addition to orchestral music, chamber music and choral music, he also writes poetry, children's songs, drama and film music. Seven of Chan's eight symphonies are composed by Published by Hugo Productions Limited; recorded by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and two Russian symphony orchestras.

Chan has won numerous awards, including the 1981 First Prize of the International Oboe Association Composition Competition in the United States, the 1988 Japan "Yoshiro Irino Memorial Award", and the "1991 Composer of the Year Award" presented by the Hong Kong Artists Alliance. , 1992 Hong Kong's Ten Outstanding Young People, Hong Kong Composers and Lyricists Association's "1997 Local Orthodox Music Most Extensive Performance Award" and "2004 and 2007 Golden Sail Music Award for the Best Orthodox Music Work".

Chan is the first composer-in-residence of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He has conducted the orchestra's premiere of his Fifth Symphony "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Sixth Symphony "Kyuzhou Tong" and other orchestral music. He also conducted the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in the premiere of its Seventh Symphony "The Great Wall" in 2004, and in 2007 the premiere of his Eighth Symphony "The Vast Land" composed for organ, chorus and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Orchestras that have performed Chen's works include the American Knoss Quartet, the Swedish Drum and Percussion Orchestra, the London Fire Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in Russia, as well as Argentina, Australia, Canada, mainland China, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Orchestras from Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Professor Chan is full of enthusiasm for teaching. He taught at the Department of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1986 to 2006. In 1992, he became the head of the Department of Music. In 2001, he became the first Chinese music (lecture) professor in Hong Kong. In 2007, he served as Senior Academic Advisor and Director of the Center for Creative and Performing Arts of the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong. In 2009, he served as deputy director of the School of Humanities and Law, School of Professional and Continuing Education, University of Hong Kong.

Chan was appointed as a Justice of the Peace by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2000. Currently Chairman of the Hong Kong Composers and Lyricists Association, Performing Arts Consultant of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Director of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Honorary Music Director of the Hong Kong Children's Choir, Artistic Consultant of the Hong Kong Dance Company, Music Director and Conductor of the Hong Kong Oratory, and Honorary Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Consultant, honorary consultant of China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, etc. He has served as a member of the Regional Council, a member of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, a director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, chairman of the Jockey Club Music Fund, a director of the Hong Kong Composers Guild, and a member of the Artistic Advisory Group of the Singapore Chinese Voice Orchestra.