Former Evergrande CEO Xia Haijun’s luxury mansion in Guangzhou was auctioned for an estimated 70.62 million yuan. The starting bid was 49.43 million yuan, roughly 70% of the valuation. Xia Haijun was warned, fined, and banned for life from the securities market due to suspected fraud involving the issuance of corporate bonds.
Ali Auctions recently listed a duplex unit located at 11 Qingfeng South Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, for auction. The announcement stated: “Valuation: ¥70,626,499; Starting Bid: ¥49,438,550; Deposit: ¥9,880,000. Auction to be held on June 1, 2026, at 10:00.”
The property has a built-up area of 428.3206 square meters with 7 bedrooms, 5 living rooms, and 6 bathrooms. It is a top-floor duplex unit on the 25th to 26th floors, surrounded by Pearl River Park and a prime river view, currently unoccupied but with some basic furniture.
According to Jiquan News on May 9, the owner of this luxury residence is the former Evergrande CEO Xia Haijun, with the property registered on December 18, 2017.
Public records show that Xia Haijun joined Evergrande Group in 2007, serving as the Vice Chairman and CEO. He was considered the chief assistant to Xu Jiayin and was responsible for the daily operations and capital market activities of Evergrande Group. He was known as “Xu Jiayin’s most trusted man,” holding the position of the “second most important figure” at Evergrande for many years. In 2017, he topped the Forbes list of “Hong Kong-listed Chinese CEO Salary Rankings” with an annual salary of 270 million yuan, earning him the title of “working emperor” in the real estate industry.
On July 22, 2022, China Evergrande announced Xia Haijun’s resignation as an executive director and CEO of the company.
On March 18, 2024, Evergrande Real Estate announced that the China Securities Regulatory Commission planned to ban Xu Jiayin, former chairman of Evergrande, and Xia Haijun from entering the securities market for life, resulting in a hefty fine of 4.175 billion yuan for Evergrande Real Estate. The CSRC’s notice cited three offenses by Evergrande Real Estate, Xu Jiayin, and others: falsification of annual reports, fraudulent issuance of bonds, and failure to disclose information in a timely manner. Xia Haijun was fined 15 million yuan.
In June 2024, Xia Haijun put up for sale a luxury property in Hong Kong that he owned, with a selling price of 82 million Hong Kong dollars, a nearly 50% depreciation. On June 24 of the same year, Evergrande Group filed an application with the Hong Kong High Court to freeze Xia Haijun’s assets to prevent them from being transferred.
According to a report by Hong Kong’s Ming Pao in June 2024, after Evergrande Group encountered trouble, Xia Haijun sold Evergrande-related stocks multiple times and also sold Evergrande dollar bonds to transfer assets.
It is rumored that Xia Haijun currently resides in a luxury mansion in Irvine, California, which was purchased by him in 2011 and later transferred to his wife’s name.