【Epoch Times News, June 14, 2024】China Evergrande Group was issued a winding-up order by a Hong Kong court. After the founder Xu Jiayin sold his properties in Hong Kong, former vice chairman and CEO Xia Haijun also recently sold his Hong Kong residence at around half the price, resulting in significant losses. Chinese authorities have recently stated that Xia Haijun is currently unreachable.
According to recent reports from the capital market, former vice chairman of Evergrande Group Xia Haijun incurred a loss of 82 million Hong Kong dollars by selling his duplex luxury home in Mount Parker, North Point, Hong Kong. Over the course of five years, he suffered a total realized loss of over 74 million Hong Kong dollars.
It is reported that Xia Haijun had purchased the property from the developer in 2019 for 156 million Hong Kong dollars, which included three parking spaces. The unit has a usable area of 2835 square feet (approximately 263 square meters) with five bedrooms, a 1159 square feet (approximately 108 square meters) rooftop, and a 654 square feet (approximately 61 square meters) sky garden equipped with a private pool, making it a rare feature unit in the area.
The transaction price this time marked a significant depreciation of 47% compared to the price Xia Haijun paid five years ago. Despite the unit’s interior still being like new, he eventually sold it for 82 million Hong Kong dollars, nearly half of the initial asking price of 160 million Hong Kong dollars.
Xia Haijun, known as Xu Jiayin’s “right-hand man,” was regarded as the “second in command” at Evergrande. His whereabouts have been a mystery to the public for some time.
Xia Haijun left mainland China in 2021 and stayed in Hong Kong. However, two sources familiar with the matter informed Reuters that with the deepening crisis of Evergrande, Xia Haijun has fled to Canada.
In May of this year, a document released by the China Securities Regulatory Commission revealed that Evergrande Real Estate’s flagship subsidiary was fined 577 million US dollars for fraudulent bond issuance and illegal information disclosure.
The Securities Regulatory Commission mentioned that they could not reach Xia Haijun, hence the information was conveyed through an announcement.
Xia Haijun resigned from Evergrande in 2022.
According to reports from Ming Pao, it was previously rumored that Xia Haijun did not return to the mainland to deal with Evergrande’s overseas debt restructuring. However, there were also reports that he returned to the mainland in mid-2022 and was under supervision and control by relevant departments.
The article mentioned that after Evergrande’s crisis, Xia Haijun had sold off Evergrande’s stocks and US dollar bonds multiple times.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission fined Evergrande Real Estate Chairman Xu Jiayin 47 million Chinese yuan and permanently banned him from entering the securities market.
Records from the Land Registry revealed that a luxurious mansion in the hills of Hong Kong previously owned by Xu Jiayin was sold for 57.37 million US dollars in May this year, only half of the estimated value from 2023.
At the end of January, the Hong Kong High Court issued a winding-up order for Evergrande Group. It was reported at the time that Evergrande had assets worth 1.74 trillion yuan but liabilities exceeding 2 trillion yuan, resulting in insolvency. Since the majority of Evergrande’s assets are in mainland China, how the court’s ruling in Hong Kong will be enforced in mainland China has become a focal point of international investment attention.