China Evergrande Group, once the world’s most indebted real estate developer and a towering symbol of China’s property boom, is set to be delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange on August 25, 2025. The move, which marks the end of Evergrande’s 16-year run as a publicly traded company in Hong Kong, encapsulates the deepening turmoil in China’s debt-laden property sector and underscores the far-reaching consequences of regulatory crackdowns on excessive borrowing.
Evergrande’s delisting comes after the company received an official letter from the Hong Kong stock exchange on August 8, 2025, notifying it of the decision to cancel its listing. According to the Associated Press, the exchange’s rules stipulate that a company may be delisted if its shares have been suspended for 18 consecutive months. Evergrande’s shares have been frozen since January 29, 2024—the same day a Hong Kong court ordered the company into liquidation after it failed to present a viable restructuring plan for its colossal debts.
At its peak, Evergrande owed over $300 billion to banks and bondholders, a staggering sum that made it the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer. The company’s default on its offshore bonds in late 2021 sent shockwaves through global financial markets, igniting fears of contagion from China’s housing downturn. As reported by South China Morning Post, the company’s collapse was not merely a corporate failure, but a milestone event in China’s broader property crisis.
Founded in 1996 by Hui Ka Yan (also known as Xu Jiayin), Evergrande rode a wave of debt-fueled expansion, borrowing aggressively to acquire land and build sprawling residential projects. The company later diversified into areas as varied as wealth management, electric vehicles, theme parks, bottled water, and even a professional soccer club. Evergrande’s shares were listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2009 under the name “Evergrande Real Estate Group.”
The beginning of the end came in 2020, when Chinese regulators, alarmed by mounting risks in the property sector, cracked down on excessive borrowing by developers. This regulatory shift made it nearly impossible for Evergrande and its peers to refinance their vast obligations. According to Euronews, the crackdown tipped China’s property industry into a crisis, dragging down the world’s second-largest economy and rattling financial systems both inside and outside China. Home prices have continued to fall, despite the government’s efforts to introduce supportive measures.
Evergrande’s troubles deepened when the Hong Kong court ruled in January 2024 that the company had failed to provide a credible restructuring plan for its debts. Trading of its shares was immediately suspended at a price of just 0.16 Hong Kong dollars ($0.02). The company, which once stood as the poster child for China’s real estate boom, now found itself at the epicenter of a historic bust.
In a statement issued after the delisting decision, Evergrande warned, “All shareholders, investors and potential investors of the company should note that after the last listing date, whilst the share certificates of the shares will remain valid, the shares will not be listed on, and will not be tradeable on the Stock Exchange.” The company also confirmed it would not seek a review of the exchange’s decision, as reported by AP.
Evergrande is far from alone in its woes. The crackdown on excessive borrowing has led to a wave of defaults across China’s property sector, with dozens of developers unable to meet their obligations to creditors and customers. Hong Kong courts are now handling liquidation petitions against other major Chinese developers, including Country Garden—one of the nation’s largest real estate companies, which is slated for another hearing in January—and China South City Holdings, which was ordered to liquidate in August 2025.
The scale of Evergrande’s collapse is staggering. According to its liquidators, as of July 31, 2025, they had received debt claims totaling $45 billion—far higher than the $27.5 billion in liabilities disclosed in December 2022. The liquidators have taken control of more than 100 companies and entities within the group, with collective assets valued at $3.5 billion as of January 29, 2024. However, the realization from these assets has been modest: only about $255 million has been sold so far, with $244 million coming from subsidiaries. Not all of these funds will be available to creditors, given the complex ownership structures involved. In their progress report, the liquidators remarked, “The liquidators believe that a holistic restructuring will prove out of reach, but they will, of course, explore any credible possibilities in this regard that may present themselves.”
Adding to Evergrande’s troubles, founder Hui Ka Yan was detained by Chinese authorities in September 2023 on suspicion of committing crimes. In 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission imposed a fine of 4.2 billion yuan (about $584 million) on Evergrande’s subsidiary Hengda Real Estate Group Company for falsifying financial records. Hui himself was fined 47 million yuan ($6.5 million) and barred for life from China’s securities markets. Several other executives also faced penalties.
The fallout extended to Evergrande’s auditors. In September 2024, Chinese authorities banned the accounting firm PwC from auditing for six months and fined them more than 400 million yuan ($56.4 million) over their involvement in auditing the collapsed developer. The regulatory response was seen as a signal that authorities were determined to hold both companies and their advisors accountable for the excesses that fueled the property bubble.
Evergrande’s delisting is not just the end of a corporate saga—it is a landmark moment in China’s ongoing property crisis. As Bloomberg put it, the company’s demise “came to symbolize the country’s property bust.” The removal of Evergrande from the Hong Kong stock exchange may foreshadow similar fates for other embattled developers, as the sector struggles to find its footing amid tighter regulations and persistent market weakness.
For now, the fate of Evergrande’s creditors, shareholders, and the broader Chinese property market remains uncertain. The company’s collapse has left a trail of unfinished projects, unpaid suppliers, and anxious homebuyers across China. As policymakers and liquidators grapple with the aftermath, the story of Evergrande serves as a cautionary tale of unchecked expansion, regulatory intervention, and the risks inherent in debt-driven growth.
The delisting of Evergrande closes a dramatic chapter in China’s real estate history, leaving investors and observers alike to wonder what comes next for an industry—and an economy—still searching for stability.
