China Evergrande Group was delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, marking an ignominious exit for the once-high-flying developer that epitomized Beijing’s economic rise and later symbolized the country’s property bust. The move follows a lengthy liquidation process initiated in January 2024.
Evergrande had become one of China’s hottest stocks after its listing in 2009, with a market cap peaking at $51 billion in 2017. However, its shares were suspended since then due to a liquidation order. The company’s debt, valued over $300 billion, makes it the world’s most indebted developer.
The property bubble has been deflating for years, with new home prices falling at the fastest pace in eight months. China’s housing downturn has stretched into a fourth year, causing sales volume and investment to falter. Analysts predict that the adjustment is not yet over, but the economy has absorbed most of the impact.
The Chinese government has announced measures to boost home demand, including lower mortgage rates and allowing eligible families to buy multiple homes. Shares of Chinese developers have rallied on optimism about future stimulus.
Although some private developers have defaulted, the risk of more defaults has subsided. Consolidation around state-backed developers appears inevitable due to a “flight to safety” by buyers favoring completed properties over presales.
Evergrande still has hundreds of unfinished projects and creditors face uncertain prospects of repayment. The company’s massive onshore units are insolvent, offering little restructuring value. Overseas bondholders and shareholders are likely to be largely wiped out due to limited recourse to onshore assets.
The delisting of Evergrande marks a significant blow to China’s property sector, which accounted for more than a quarter of the country’s GDP prior to Beijing’s crackdown on developers’ excessive debt in 2020. The government is urged to implement more effective measures to address the property market and stabilize expectations.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/25/evergrandes-rise-and-fall-leaves-scars-on-chinas-property-sector.html