China Evergrande Group was delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday — an ignominious exit for the former high-flying developer that once epitomized Beijing’s economic rise and later came to symbolize the country’s property bust.
Following its listing in 2009, Evergrande had become one of China’s hottest stocks, with the company’s market cap peaking at $51 billion in 2017. Trading in the company’s shares had been suspended since January 2024 when it received a liquidation order, with its market value falling to just above $280 million, according to LSEG data.
Evergrande, once China’s largest developer by sales, will now be remembered as the world’s most indebted developer with more than $300 billion in debt and whose default set off a broader years-long crisis that dragged on the country’s economic growth.
It was one of the earliest developers that faltered after Beijing rolled out its three-red-line policy in 2021. The policy, which was aimed at reining in aggressive borrowing, triggering a sector-wide liquidity crisis.
China’s housing downturn has stretched into a fourth year, with prices, sales, investment and construction activity faltering across the board, weighing on economic growth.
