In a recent ruling by a British court, Ding Yumei, the ex-wife of Xu Jiaying, the founder of China Evergrande, has been granted permission to receive up to 20,000 pounds (approximately 186,000 RMB) per month as living expenses. This decision allows Ding Yumei to access a portion of her frozen assets for her financial support on a monthly basis.
This ruling may be related to the progress of the efforts by the liquidators of China Evergrande in pursuing financial claims. In early August last month, the liquidators, on behalf of the company, officially filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Hong Kong against Xu Jiaying, the former CEO Xia Haijun, former CFO Pan Darong, and seven other defendants, including Ding Yumei, Xu Jiaying’s spouse or ex-spouse, to reclaim approximately $6 billion in dividends and compensation.
The legal action initiated on March 22, 2024, by the representatives of China Evergrande’s liquidators at the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region targeted Xu Jiaying, Xia Haijun, and Pan Darong initially. Subsequently, Ding Yumei and three affiliated companies of Xu Jiaying and Ding Yumei were added as defendants in the lawsuit.
Under the Evergrande name, the liquidators have obtained several injunctions in the lawsuit to restrict Xu Jiaying, Ding Yumei, and Xia Haijun from disposing, selling, or diminishing the value of their global assets beyond certain limits during the litigation period to prevent asset transfers.
Currently, China Evergrande remains suspended from trading. The 2023 annual report of Evergrande indicated that Ding Yumei held a 5.99% stake in the company. Evergrande Group faced a debt crisis in 2021, owing a total of over 1.96 trillion RMB to suppliers, creditors, and investors.
From 2009 to June 2021, Evergrande Group accumulated a net profit of 173.388 billion RMB. However, the company distributed substantial dividends almost every year, nearing 70 billion RMB.
Behind the generous dividends lies an implicit rule. Looking at the shareholding ratios, most of the dividends were pocketed by Xu Jiaying and his significant shareholders, amounting to nearly 54 billion RMB. Starting from 2011, Xu Jiaying cashed out 49.981 billion RMB through dividends.
On August 17, 2023, Evergrande Group filed for bankruptcy protection in New York, USA. On the evening of September 28 of the same year, Evergrande announced that Xu Jiaying, the founder and chairman of the board, was under investigation for alleged illegal activities and had been under coercion measures. According to sources cited by the Daily Economic News, before Xu Jiaying was subjected to coercion, his second son Xu Tenghe had been taken away, and his wife Ding Yumei was already “overseas.”
Reported by Tencent News, Ding Yumei had actually completed divorce proceedings with Xu Jiaying as early as 2022.