Hui Ka Yan, the founder of China Evergrande Group, pleaded guilty in a Shenzhen courtroom this week to charges including embezzlement of assets, corporate bribery, misuse of funds and illegally taking public deposits, closing a central chapter in the collapse of the world's most indebted property developer.
The Shenzhen municipal intermediate people's court said Hui "pleaded guilty and expressed remorse" during hearings held April 13 and 14, according to a statement posted to the court's official WeChat account. The court said it would issue verdicts against Hui and Evergrande at a later date and did not set one. Illegal fundraising carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and confiscation of property under Chinese law, and bribery can also draw a life term.
A $300 billion default at the center of China's property slump
Evergrande has defaulted since 2021 on most of its $300 billion in liabilities, a failure widely cited as a trigger for the downturn that has dragged on Chinese economic growth for nearly five years. At its peak the company carried a stock market valuation above $50 billion and ran about 1,300 projects across 280 Chinese cities. Its shares were delisted from the Hong Kong exchange in August 2025 after losing 99 percent of their value.
The court heard that Evergrande collected millions of dollars in pre-sale payments from home buyers and diverted the funds to new projects rather than completing the units already sold, leaving hundreds of unfinished buildings across China. The failure to deliver apartments, combined with defaults on wealth management products sold to retail investors, fueled protests among middle-class savers whose investments were wiped out.
From steel technician to Asia's richest man
Hui, 67, also known as Xu Jiayin, was raised by his grandmother in a village in Henan province and worked as a steel factory technician before founding Evergrande in 1996. He built the company into China's largest property developer by contracted sales through aggressive borrowing, and expanded into electric vehicles, food and beverages and professional soccer, buying a controlling stake in Guangzhou FC.
Forbes estimated his net worth at $45.3 billion in 2017, making him Asia's richest person. By 2023, when Chinese authorities detained him, his fortune had fallen to about $3 billion. He has not been seen in public since.
Prior sanctions and offshore clawback
China's securities regulator in March 2024 fined Hui $6.5 million and barred him from the country's capital markets for life after finding that Evergrande's main onshore unit had overstated revenue by $78 billion. A Hong Kong court issued a liquidation order against the company in 2024.
Outside the mainland, Evergrande's liquidators have fought in court to freeze offshore assets held by Hui and his ex-spouse, seeking to claw back about $6 billion in dividends and remuneration paid to Hui and other former executives. The Guardian reported that the liquidators declined to comment on that clawback litigation.
The wider policy backdrop
Evergrande's unraveling accelerated in 2020, when Beijing imposed new rules capping leverage at property developers, forcing the company to discount inventory to generate cash. The resulting slump has weighed on Chinese economic growth for nearly five years.
One caveat frames the guilty plea. The proceedings took place in a Chinese state court with no independent defense commentary reported; Reuters said it was unable to reach Hui, and his legal representation has not spoken publicly. The court has not disclosed the evidentiary record underlying the plea, and sentencing remains outstanding.
The plea closes the criminal file on the man most identified with China's property bubble. The balance sheet is another matter: 1,300 projects, $300 billion in liabilities and a $6 billion offshore clawback are still open.