appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Zhu Wenqian

Ji Siqi

A court in Shenzhen has sentenced China Evergrande Group founder and former chairman Hui Ka-yan to life imprisonment for “multiple combined crimes”, confiscating all of Hui’s personal property.
Meanwhile, Evergrande was fined 8.82 billion yuan (US$1.31 billion), while its onshore operating unit Hengda Real Estate was fined 7 billion yuan – some of the biggest corporate fines ever levied by a Chinese court in a criminal case.
The 67-year-old Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, was also deprived of political rights for life. He pleaded guilty to charges including embezzlement of corporate assets and corporate bribery in April.
According to the court, the illegal gains of the defendants shall be further recovered, and where recovery is insufficient, restitution shall be ordered.
“The financial distress of Evergrande in 2021 signalled the end of the ‘three highs’ business model – characterised by high debt, high leverage, and high asset turnover – for Chinese developers,” said Edward Chan, a director at S&P Global Ratings. “We do not anticipate further meaningful impact on the Chinese property market following the court sentencing of Hui Ka-yan.”
The violations by Evergrande, Hengda and Hui took place between 2016 and 2021, the court said in its judgment. Through “sustained and large‑scale financial fraud”, the court added, they “inflated assets, concealed liabilities and committed crimes”, including “illegal absorption of public deposits, fundraising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities and illegal disclosure of key information”.
Evergrande and Hui gained control over financial institutions and illegally siphoned off credit and insurance funds for use by the group, the court said, perpetrating crimes such as bribery, illegal granting of loans and illegal use of funds.
Taking advantage of his position as chairman of the group, Hui also orchestrated financial fraud and embezzled corporate assets in the name of dividend distribution, per the judgment.
This judicial ruling is seen as marking the end of an old‑era growth model for China’s property sector and heralding the start of a new one
Yan Yuejin, E-house China Research and Development Institute
On the same day, the court also publicly ruled on cases of illegal deposit absorption, fundraising fraud and illegal use of funds by Evergrande personnel. A total of 56 individuals, including Hui’s two sons, were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 22 months to 18 years, with fines or property confiscated as stipulated by the ruling.
Present at the sentencing were members of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – the country’s top legislature and political advisory body – as well as relatives of the defendants and representatives of fundraising entities that had been defrauded.
The trial marks another milestone in Evergrande’s protracted fall from grace. Once a symbol of China’s property boom, it later became the world’s most indebted real estate developer, a title earned in June 2023 when its total liabilities reached US$332 billion.
The country’s property sector – which once accounted for roughly one-quarter of the economy with its related industries – has been in a prolonged downturn since late 2020, with falling home prices weighing on household wealth.
“This judicial ruling is seen as marking the end of an old‑era growth model for China’s property sector and heralding the start of a new one,” said Yan Yuejin, vice-president of the E‑house China Research and Development Institute, a Shanghai-based property consultancy.
“It demonstrates zero‑tolerance towards financial risks and illegal criminal acts, sending a clear signal to the market. It helps clarify regulatory rules and stabilise long‑term expectations.”
The High Court in Hong Kong ordered the company to be liquidated in January 2024, and the company was delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange in August 2025.
Dividends collected by Hui and his ex‑wife Ding Yumei travelled up successive corporate layers via Evergrande’s red‑chip framework, before reaching bank accounts of offshore entities under their de facto control, according to the Hong Kong court and industry reports. The couple are believed to have divorced ahead of Hui’s arrest.


A ruling from the Hong Kong court in November last year broadened the injunction against Ding to four jurisdictions: the British crown dependency of Jersey, Gibraltar, Canada and Singapore.
Her bank assets in these jurisdictions exceeded US$220 million. The ruling permits judicial action against Ding in those places, potentially allowing those assets to be frozen.
Five years after the Evergrande crisis triggered a prolonged slump in the property market, local governments have continued to roll out optimised home-purchase policies and inventory-destocking measures to stabilise the market.
“We do not view the impact on the China property sector as significant, as Evergrande has defaulted on debt with no major land bank acquisition for years,” said Jeff Zhang, an equity analyst at Morningstar.
“The liquidation process will likely remain lengthy and claims on assets should take several more years to resolve. Overall, we think the market’s focus has shifted to incremental policy relaxations, particularly in wealthy cities such as Beijing and Shanghai,” Zhang said.
Local authorities in Shanghai launched eight measures spanning five areas of property policy on Thursday. The city said it would optimise housing provident fund withdrawals, refine individual housing credit policies, introduce home trade-in subsidies, implement “housing‑voucher resettlement” and advance the acquisition of second-hand residential properties. The changes will take effect on Friday.
New home prices across China’s four first‑tier cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen – stayed flat on average in July compared with June, ending a four‑month rebound, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. Analysts attributed the softer month‑on‑month performance to seasonal headwinds and an unusually rainy summer.
The Politburo – a key decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party – renewed its pledge to stabilise the property market at a July 30 meeting, part of its efforts to establish safeguards within broader economic risk-prevention measures.


Why China won’t ban housing presales outright

After Evergrande, China’s new rules spark unease amid developers’ debt resolution progress

China football talent left sat on sidelines as game is ruined, ex-captain Li says

PwC International must face trial of Evergrande scandals claims: Hong Kong High Court

China Evergrande Group

Saga of China Evergrande founder Hui Ka-yan ends with life sentence

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

5 years after Evergrande, why a China think tank says stock market signals a turnaround

High rise buildings in Nanjing, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, on May 24, 2025. Photo: AFP

Founder of China’s Evergrande Group Hui Ka-yan pleads guilty in fraud trial

Hui Ka-yan, then-chairman of China Evergrande Group, attends the company’s 2017 results meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. Photo: David Wong

Evergrande properties in Nanjing, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, are seen on December 30, 2023. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

China Evergrande liquidators seek judicial review of SFC agreement with PwC Hong Kong

Residents walk through a partially shuttered China Evergrande commercial complex in Beijing on January 29, 2024 - the same day the firm was ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court. Photo: AP

Evergrande liquidators seek US$8.4 billion from PwC entities in Hong Kong lawsuit

A general view of The High Court in Admiralty. Photo: Warton Li

PwC International says it merely coordinates PwC’s global network from London and does not itself provide audit or advisory services. Photo: AP Photo

PwC to pay US$128 million to Evergrande minority shareholders over audit failures

Evergrande Group logos are seen on apartment buildings in Nanjing, China’s eastern Jiangsu province on August 25, 2025. Photo: AFP

An aerial view of an abandoned Evergrande construction project in Yingquan district, Fuyang City, in China’s eastern Anhui province. Photo: AFP

Business

China Business

Companies

Sentence for ‘multiple combined crimes’ in Shenzhen court signals end of property sector’s ‘old‑era growth model’, analyst says


Sentence for ‘multiple combined crimes’ in Shenzhen court signals end of property sector’s ‘old‑era growth model’, analyst says.


Saga of China Evergrande founder Hui Ka-yan ends with life sentence

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sentence for ‘multiple combined crimes’ in Shenzhen court signals end of property sector’s ‘old‑era growth model’, analyst says

Sentence for ‘multiple combined crimes’ in Shenzhen court signals end of property sector’s ‘old‑era growth model’, analyst says