Evergrande’s downfall triggered the beginning of China’s property crisis.
China Evergrande Group will be delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Aug. 25, ending its public trading era after a court-ordered liquidation and 18-month trading halt.
The Stock Exchange notified the company on Aug. 8 that trading had not resumed by July 28, leaving no avenue for review.
The last official listing day is Aug. 22, after which the shares will no longer be tradable.
In late January last year, a Hong Kong court issued a winding-up liquidation order, concluding that Evergrade had failed to propose a viable debt-restructuring plan and had exhausted multiple extensions.
Judge Linda Chan, who ruled over the case, declared that “enough is enough.”
Evergrande, once China’s largest property developer, is now the world’s most indebted, with liabilities exceeding $300 billion at the time of the court ruling.
To date, the liquidators—Alvarez & Marsal—reported selling approximately $255 million in assets, including items like artworks and club memberships.
This represents less than 1 percent of the estimated 2022 assets of approximately $250 billion, highlighting the massive complexity of untangling the group’s operations, especially those in mainland China.
Liquidators now control more than 100 subsidiaries, with combined entity valuations around $3.5 billion, as of early 2024. However, credit claims have surged to $45 billion, far exceeding previously disclosed liabilities.
Founded in 1996 by Hui Ka Yan, also known as Xu Jiayin, China Evergrande Group grew rapidly into the nation’s largest real estate developer by sales before collapsing under unsustainable leverage.
After failing to stave off collapse, the founder was detained in September 2023 under the authorities’ claim of suspected “crimes.” He was later fined and barred for life from China’s security markets.
Evergrande’s downfall marks the downturn of the broader Chinese property sector crisis, which began after the 2020 regulatory clampdown on excessive developer borrowing.
By James Xu
