Evergrande, once China's largest property developer, has been formally delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange, marking the end of a dramatic decline. The company was removed on Monday after an 18-month trading freeze imposed when it was placed into liquidation in January 2024.
At its peak in 2017, Evergrande was valued at more than HK$400bn (US$50bn). However, by the time trading was suspended, its market capitalisation had fallen to just over HK$2bn (US$260m), with shares trading at HK$0.16 (US$0.02). The company had lost more than 99% of its value amid China's prolonged property sector downturn.
Liquidators informed investors in August that the listing would be cancelled and they would not seek a review after the stock exchange warned Evergrande had missed the July deadline to resume trading. The company's debt problems began in 2021 when it defaulted on US$300bn in liabilities following tighter lending controls by the Chinese government.
A Hong Kong court issued a winding-up order in January 2024 after Evergrande failed to produce a viable debt repayment plan. Liquidators have since taken steps to recover creditors' investments, including filing a lawsuit against PwC and its mainland Chinese arm over their auditing role.
Evergrande's collapse has been part of a broader crisis in China's property market. National sales and prices began falling in September 2021, with prices nearly a fifth lower across China by March 2024, according to Bank for International Settlements data. The downturn has also dragged down steel prices and household spending.
In March 2024, Evergrande was fined US$580m by Beijing's securities regulator for inflating revenues by almost US$80bn in 2019 and 2020. At the time of its liquidation, the group had about 1,300 projects under development in more than 280 cities, along with investments in electric vehicles and property management.
