A court in Shenzhen has sentenced China Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka Yan to life in prison, concluding the criminal case linked to the downfall of the world’s most indebted property developer. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court delivered its verdict on August 20, ordering the seizure of all of Hui’s personal assets and revoking his political rights for life.
Hui, 67, also known as Xu Jiayin, had pleaded guilty in April to eight charges, including fundraising fraud, illegally accepting public deposits, fraudulently issuing securities, and bribery. The court stated that the scale of the funds involved was exceptionally large and the societal impact was extremely severe, necessitating a harsh penalty under the law.
Evergrande Group was fined 8.82 billion yuan (US$1.31 billion), while its onshore subsidiary, Evergrande Real Estate Group, received a fine of 7 billion yuan (US$1.04 billion), bringing the combined penalty to over US$2.3 billion. Xinhua News Agency reported that over 50 individuals were sentenced alongside Hui, including his sons Xu Tenghe and Xu Zhijian, with prison terms ranging from 22 months to 18 years. Chinese authorities have previously stated that Evergrande’s revenues were overstated by tens of billions of dollars in 2019 and 2020.
Prior to this sentencing, Hui had already faced regulatory action, including a fine of approximately US$6.5 million from China’s securities regulator in 2024 and a lifetime ban from the country’s securities markets.
Hui established Evergrande in 1996, growing it into China’s largest developer by contracted sales during the nation’s property boom. He became Asia’s richest man in 2017, with an estimated net worth exceeding US$45 billion.
A Beijing crackdown on excessive borrowing within the property sector in 2020 initiated the group’s collapse, with liabilities eventually surpassing US$300 billion. A Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande into liquidation in 2024, and its shares were subsequently delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The repercussions have affected millions of individual buyers and investors, with unpaid wealth-management products and unfinished apartment projects leading to ongoing frustration among those impacted.