Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka Yan has pleaded guilty to fraud charges. (Reuters: Bobby Yip)<\/p>\n
Hui Ka Yan, founder of the Evergrande real estate group, has been sentenced to life in prison by a Shenzhen court.<\/p>\n
He was convicted of overseeing Evergrande as it engaged in large-scale financial fraud in inflating the group's assets while concealing its liabilities.<\/p>\n
In 2026, the Chinese property market is undergoing a structural shift from speculative hyper-growth into a permanent "stable contraction".<\/p>\n
Chinese property developer Hui Ka Yan, founder of the Evergrande real estate group, has been sentenced to life in prison with the companies fined a total of $US2.3 billion ($3.2 billion), by a court in the southern city of Shenzhen.<\/p>\n
The decision marks a milestone in Evergrande's saga after it collapsed with more than $US300 billion ($420 billion) in liabilities when Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing in the real estate industry in 2020.<\/p>\n
That triggered a crunch among many developers and brought on a downturn in the property market that has weighed on the broader economy ever since.<\/p>\n
The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court convicted Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, and Evergrande of large-scale financial fraud in inflating the group's assets and concealing its liabilities.<\/p>\n
Evergrande was fined $1.85 billion in addition to Hui's sentence. \u00a0 (Reuters: Aly Song)<\/p>\n
In a statement, the court said Hui also abused his position in orchestrating financial fraud and misappropriating company assets.<\/p>\n
Hui had faced eight charges including misuse of funds and illegally taking public deposits.<\/p>\n
It also sentenced several other senior Evergrande executives to prison terms of up to 18 years on charges including illegally taking public deposits and fraud, the court said.<\/p>\n
Evergrande group was fined 8.82 billion yuan ($1.85 billion) and Evergrande Real Estate Group was fined 7 billion yuan ($1.45 billion), the court said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Hui pleaded guilty in April to various charges including illegal absorption of public deposits, fraud and bribery after he was arrested in China.<\/p>\n
China Evergrande, founded in 1996, defaulted on its debts in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n