Shenzhen veteran real estate company “Xiangqi Group” founded by Chen Hongtian is facing multiple debt disputes and has been subjected to restrictions on high consumption by the court. Chen Hongtian has been repeatedly listed on the Hurun Rich List, with a peak net worth of up to 32 billion yuan, sparking widespread market attention.
According to information from the China Enforcement Information Disclosure Network, Chen Hongtian received multiple restrictions on consumption orders intensively from June to September of this year due to failure to fulfill the obligations under effective legal documents.
As early as June 24, Chen Hongtian received a restriction on consumption order issued by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court due to a financial loan contract dispute with Hang Seng Bank.
In September, he was once again intensively restricted from high consumption due to multiple cases. Firstly, the Nan Shan Court took restrictive measures against him for the execution of a foreign arbitration award filed by Shenzhen West City Investment Holdings Group. Secondly, there were two cases filed by the Qianhai Court in the Shenzhen Qianhai Cooperation Zone, involving a loan contract dispute applied for enforcement by Tianxi (Shenzhen) Industrial Park Property Management Company, and a financial loan contract dispute with Bank of Communications. In the Bank of Communications case, a restriction on high consumption order was simultaneously issued to Chen’s family asset management company and its legal representative Chen Hongtian.
According to reports from several mainland media outlets, Chen Hongtian’s current crisis is mainly related to his aggressive cross-border expansion and liquidity crisis.
Chen Hongtian was born in 1959 in Foshan, Guangdong, his father was a high school teacher and their family was not wealthy. In his earlier years, he worked as a table tennis coach at a sports school and a high school teacher. In the early 1980s, with only 200 yuan in hand, he went south to Shenzhen and earned his first bucket of gold by engaging in clothing trade.
Around 1990, he seized the opportunity and entered the real estate industry, founding Xiangqi Group. In the early days, the group focused on local residential and commercial property development in Shenzhen, developing projects such as Baishizhou Xiangqi Garden, Qiaocheng Haoyuan, Shixia Xiangyun Garden, among others.
After 2013, Xiangqi Group completely stopped acquiring ordinary residential land and shifted all its focus to acquiring whole commercial properties in core cities, making massive acquisitions of Grade A office buildings and top luxury homes in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, London, and other places.
At its peak, Xiangqi Group owned 12 skyscrapers in core cities worldwide, with annual rental income reaching several billion yuan. With the group’s assets, Chen Hongtian and his family have repeatedly appeared on the Hurun Rich List.
However, influenced by macroeconomic environment and fluctuations in overseas markets, Xiangqi Group’s cross-border heavy asset model faced challenges. By 2023, their Hong Kong properties including Xiangqi Center, Bel Air On The Peak, and Altitude were mildly in default on mortgage payments, with the corresponding bank loans totaling approximately 6 billion Hong Kong dollars.
To alleviate the situation, the group was forced to sell assets at a discount. Subsequently, properties previously purchased by them such as the luxury house at 15 Bel Air On The Peak, Xiangqi Center in Hong Kong, and multiple mid-level luxury homes were taken over by banks or sold at a discount, resulting in significant book losses.
The disposal of large assets losses ultimately dragged down the group’s overall cash flow, leading to increasing domestic debt lawsuits and compulsory enforcement. Information from Tianyancha shows that Shenzhen Xiangqi Group Co., Ltd. currently has total enforced amounts exceeding 124 million yuan.
Business information shows that the company is still in existence, but is embroiled in numerous lawsuits with multiple records of equity freezes.