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Daisy Wu

A court in southern China’s Guangdong province formally accepted a bankruptcy liquidation petition against China Evergrande Group’s main onshore unit, closing the final chapter in the unravelling of what was once the country’s largest property developer.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court said on Friday that Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank’s Huaxia branch met the legal criteria under the nation’s Enterprise Bankruptcy Law to force the Evergrande unit, Hengda Real Estate, into liquidation, citing the firm’s inability to pay mature debts and insufficient total assets.
The decision came just a day after the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court handed down a life sentence to Hui Ka-yan, the billionaire founder also known as Xu Jiayin, following a high-profile trial over financial fraud and mismanagement.
Hui was convicted on multiple financial charges, stripped of his political rights for life and ordered to forfeit all personal property.
The Shenzhen court also levied administrative fines totalling 8.82 billion yuan (US$1.32 billion) on Evergrande Group and 7 billion yuan on Evergrande Real Estate, alongside orders to recover remaining illegal gains.
Separately on Friday, China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration revoked the business licence of Evergrande Life Assurance, citing severe non-compliance in the company’s use of insurance funds, undisclosed transfers of benefits to related parties, non-compliant post-investment management and false records in its filed reports and statements.

The rapid sequence of events underscores Beijing’s determination to bring a definitive end to the years-long debt crisis surrounding Evergrande. Once the poster child of China’s debt-fuelled property boom, the company spiralled into crisis in 2021 after falling foul of Beijing’s “three red lines” – regulatory curbs on overleveraged developers.
Its subsequent default on more than US$300 billion in total liabilities sent shock waves through the world’s second-largest economy, triggering a systemic property downturn, widespread homebuyer protests over unfinished flats and a liquidation order from a Hong Kong court against its offshore holding company in early 2024.
The liquidation filing coincided with broader structural overhauls to China’s insolvency framework, with China’s top legislative body signalling potential shifts in how corporate restructurings will be handled moving forward.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Huang Haihua, spokesman for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, detailed proposed revisions to the nation’s Enterprise Bankruptcy Law.
The draft amendments aim to strengthen temporary protection mechanisms to safeguard restructuring procedures, clarify filing criteria for creditors and debtors, and mandate strict information disclosure standards during corporate reorganisations.
Notably, the proposed legislation also aims to enhance cross-border bankruptcy rules, clarifying Chinese courts’ jurisdiction over international insolvency cases. The legal reform is scheduled for its second reading from August 25 to 28.


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Chinese court accepts Evergrande liquidation petition 1 day after founder’s life sentence

A photo taken on December 3, 2022 shows a housing complex by Chinese property developer Evergrande in Huaian, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: AFP

Hui Ka-yan, founder of China Evergrande, stands in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in a photo released on August 20. Photo: Reuters

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A court in Shenzhen has sentenced China Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka-yan to life imprisonment for “multiple combined crimes”, confiscating all Hui’s personal property. Photo: CCTV

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Decision of court in Guangdong province against developer’s main onshore unit Hengda Real Estate punctuates company’s long undoing


Decision of court in Guangdong province against developer’s main onshore unit Hengda Real Estate punctuates company’s long undoing.


Chinese court accepts Evergrande liquidation petition 1 day after founder’s life sentence

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Decision of court in Guangdong province against developer’s main onshore unit Hengda Real Estate punctuates company’s long undoing

Decision of court in Guangdong province against developer’s main onshore unit Hengda Real Estate punctuates company’s long undoing