Billion-Dollar debt: Evergrande delisted from stock exchange

After approximately 15 years on the stock exchange, it is finally over for the highly indebted Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande. The stock exchange in the special administrative region of Hong Kong removed the crisis-ridden construction company from its list at the start of trading. According to a report on the online platform of Focus, the company missed the set deadline to resume trading of its shares.

The shares had already been suspended since January 29, 2024, after a court in Hong Kong ordered the breakup of Evergrande following a lawsuit filed by foreign creditors. The company had accumulated a mountain of debt of around $300 billion (approximately €256 billion).

Once the flagship corporation during China's construction boom—an industry that at times accounted for one-fifth of the country's economic output—Evergrande now symbolises the real estate crisis that has been slowing China's economic growth since 2021 and shaking public consumer confidence.

The former largest real estate developer in southern China, which at one point also owned the football club Guangzhou FC, launched a brilliant IPO in 2009 and subsequently multiplied its market value. At its peak, Evergrande managed around 1,300 construction projects in 280 Chinese cities. Company CEO Hui Ka Yan even temporarily became the richest man in China.

However, in 2020, the company began to stumble when the central government in Beijing tightened credit rules for real estate developers. As a result, Evergrande could no longer service its debts and was unable to complete apartments that had already been sold but were not yet finished. The anger among affected buyers was enormous. The authorities initiated investigations against Hui, and in March 2024, the Chinese securities regulator finally banned him from stock trading for life.

MK