China’s property empire isn’t just cracking, it’s collapsing in plain sight. The delisting of China Evergrande Group from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange marks the spectacular implosion of what Beijing once touted as a symbol of its unstoppable growth. Now, it’s an open indictment of a system rotting from the inside out.
From Glory to Ruin
Founded in the mid-1990s by Hui Ka Yan, Evergrande rode China’s debt-fueled property boom straight to the top until 2020, when Beijing’s own regulatory “crackdown” on excessive borrowing yanked the brakes. What followed wasn’t reform, it was a controlled demolition of an entire industry that had become one of China’s key economic engines.
Trading in Evergrande shares was suspended on Jan. 29, 2024, at a humiliating 0.16 Hong Kong dollars ($0.02). On Aug. 8, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange finally pulled the plug, confirming Aug. 22 as the last day of listing. Debt? $45 billion in claims so far, nearly double what the company admitted in 2022.
A Domino Effect Across China
Evergrande isn’t alone. Country Garden (another of China’s biggest developers) faces liquidation hearings. Smaller firms like China South City Holdings are already being liquidated. The crash has dragged China’s once-mighty property sector into a prolonged slump, with home prices continuing to slide despite desperate “supportive measures” from policymakers.
Looted From Within
Liquidators have taken control of over 100 Evergrande-linked companies, reporting assets worth $3.5 billion. A pathetic fraction of its liabilities. Of the $255 million in asset sales so far, most were tangled in complex structures that mean creditors may never see the cash. In the liquidators’ own words: “A holistic restructuring will prove out of reach.” Translation: there’s nothing left to save.
Criminals at the Helm
Founder Hui Ka Yan was detained in 2023 for suspected crimes. In 2024, China’s Securities Regulatory Commission fined Evergrande’s subsidiary $584 million for falsifying financial records, slapped Hui with a $6.5 million fine, and banned him from securities markets for life. Even PwC, Evergrande’s auditor, wasn’t spared, barred for six months and fined $56.4 million for its role in the cover-up.
The Bigger Picture
Evergrande’s fall isn’t just a corporate failure, it’s a glaring exposure of the CCP’s economic mirage. For years, Beijing built growth on shaky debt, opaque accounting, and political control over capital markets. Now the cracks are visible, and no amount of propaganda can plaster them over.
The message to investors, foreign and domestic, is clear: In Xi Jinping’s China, the game is rigged. Transparency is a myth. Accountability is selective. And when the crash comes, the Party protects itself. Not the economy, not the people, and certainly not the truth.
