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Evergrande: default alarms put thousands of suppliers, jobs and economy at risk as developer’s IOUs balloon

  • World’s most indebted developer owed suppliers more than US$103 billion in construction, furnishings and materials sectors on June 30
  • Evergrande’s founder and chairman Hui Ka-yan, also known as Xu Jiayin in mainland China, turns 63 today

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Aerial view of China Evergrande Group's Emerald Bay housing project under construction in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun area, on 13 May 2020. Photo: May Tse

The third of a three-part series on China Evergrande Group takes a deep dive into how the property developer’s debt crisis is affecting thousands of suppliers across the construction, furnishings and real estate services sectors and how the fallout of an Evergrande collapse could affect China’s economy.

In October 2019, China Evergrande Group’s first real estate project in Hong Kong got off to a flying start, selling out all 167 flats in its first weekend and outpacing sales of other developers after months of social unrest racked the city’s economy.

The Emerald Bay development in Tuen Mun and its sister project The Vertex in Cheung Sha Wan were supposed to showcase properties for China’s biggest developer by sales, with high-end German appliances, in-flat wine refrigerators and opulent common areas featuring modern design elements.

Two years on, things have turned sour. Sales are languishing in the second phase of the Emerald Bay, with many of the city’s biggest banks cutting off mortgage loans for flats still under construction.  Property agents and vendors are struggling to collect what they are owed as Evergrande’s financial health set off alarm bells.
As the world’s most indebted developer teeters towards default under a suffocating 1.97 trillion yuan (US$305 billion) of liabilities, the cash crunch is threatening to engulf thousands of its suppliers across the construction, materials, furnishings and property services sectors from Hong Kong to Xinjiang in westernmost China.

02:25

Unpaid by Evergrande, supplier sells car and home to rescue his business

Unpaid by Evergrande, supplier sells car and home to rescue his business

That could have profound effects on China’s economy, where the property development, construction and real estate services industry account for more than a quarter of China’s US$14 trillion gross domestic product.

Chad Bray
Chad is a UK correspondent reporting on issues ranging from business to Sino-British relations. He joined the Post in 2018 as a senior business reporter focused on finance. He has previously written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.
Pearl Liu
Based in Hong Kong, Pearl covers the property market in the city and China and follows major listed developers. She previously worked at The Straits Times and has also contributed stories to China Daily.
Sandy Li
Sandy Li is the property editor. She covers property market which focus in listed property firms and government policy. During her career she has won several journalism prizes, including the Citi Journalistic Excellence Award in 2011. She was first runner-up for the same award in 2010.
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