Timeline: The trials of Evergrande, from default to founder's life sentence

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle

20/08/2026 08:57

Adds Hui guilty plea, sentencing
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Hui Ka Yan, founder of China Evergrande Group, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for crimes related to the collapse of the world's most-indebted property developer, which shook China's economy and financial markets.
The financial crisis at Evergrande, once China's top-selling developer, became public in 2021. The company, delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last year, has defaulted on most of its $300 billion in liabilities.
Here are key events in the debt crisis at Evergrande:

AUGUST 2021
Many Evergrande projects across the country halt construction because of overdue payments.
China's central bank and banking watchdog summon senior executives and issue a rare warning that Evergrande must reduce its debt risks and prioritise stability.

SEPTEMBER 2021
Evergrande misses two offshore bond coupon payments totalling $131 million. The payments have a grace period of 30 days.
Evergrande engages financial advisers to examine options, warning of cross-default risks amid plunging property sales.
        
NOVEMBER 2021
Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan sells 1.2 billion shares worth HK$2.68 billion ($343 million), lowering his stake in Evergrande to 67.9% from 77%.

MARCH 2022
Evergrande suspends trading in its shares, citing its inability to publish audited results before March 31 and an investigation of the property management arm in which 13.4 billion yuan ($1.87 billion) of deposits were seized by banks.

NOVEMBER 2022
A mansion belonging to Evergrande's founder in Hong Kong's prestigious The Peak residential enclave is seized by China Construction Bank (Asia).
 
JANUARY 2023
Evergrande says PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned as its auditor over disagreements on matters related to its 2021 accounts. 

FEBRUARY 2023
An independent committee finds Evergrande's directors fell "below standards" through their involvement in diverting loans secured by unit Evergrande Property Services 6666.HK to the group. 

MARCH 2023
Evergrande announces offshore debt-restructuring plans, giving creditors options to swap their debt into new bonds and equity-linked instruments backed by the group and its two Hong Kong-listed companies.

APRIL 2023
Evergrande says 77% of the holders of class-A debts and 30% of the holders of class-C debts have submitted their support for the restructuring proposal.
      
JULY 2023
Evergrande posts net losses of 476 billion yuan for 2021 and 105.9 billion yuan for 2022, versus a profit of 8.1 billion yuan in 2020 when its operations were normal. 

AUGUST 2023
Evergrande reports a 33 billion yuan loss for January-June, versus a 66.4 billion yuan loss a year earlier. 
Trading in Evergrande's shares resumes after 17 months, with 79% of its market value lost from when it was last traded. 

SEPTEMBER 2023
China's National Administration of Financial Regulation approves setting up a state-owned insurer to take over all assets and liabilities of Evergrande Life Insurance, a 50%-owned investee company of Evergrande.
Police in southern China say they have detained some staff at Evergrande Financial Wealth Management, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Evergrande.
Evergrande defers scheme meeting initially scheduled for September 25-26, citing the need to reassess restructuring terms. 
Evergrande says it cannot meet qualifications for the issuance of new notes as its flagship onshore unit Hengda Real Estate Group was under regulatory investigation for suspected violation of information disclosure.    
Evergrande says founder is being investigated over suspected crimes.    

OCTOBER 2023
The Hong Kong High Court gives Evergrande a five-week reprieve to come up with a revised concrete debt restructuring plan to avoid liquidation.

NOVEMBER 2023
Evergrande makes last-minute revised debt restructuring proposal to offshore creditors ahead of the hearing.
        
DECEMBER 2023    
Evergrande obtains another adjournment from the Hong Kong court, giving it more time to finalise a revamped offshore debt-restructuring plan.
Evergrande's ad hoc bondholder group says it firmly opposes the revised restructuring terms.

JANUARY 2024
Evergrande's new-energy vehicle unit 0708.HK says Vice-Chairman Liu Yongzhuo has been detained and is under criminal investigation.
Evergrande Property Services says its units have started legal proceedings against parent Evergrande to recover 11.4 billion yuan of pledge guarantees on deposit certificates.
Evergrande's ad hoc bondholder group joins the liquidation petition against the developer.
Hong Kong court issues a liquidation order for Evergrande. Its shares are suspended from trading. 

MARCH 2024
China fines Evergrande's onshore flagship unit 4.18 billion yuan for fraudulent bond issuance and illegal information disclosure, and the company's founder 47 million yuan and bars him from the securities market for life. 
Evergrande's liquidators start legal proceedings against the chairman, his ex-wife and former executives to recover about $6 billion.    

AUGUST 2025
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange decides to cancel Evergrande's listing, effective on August 25, as its shares fail to resume trading after 18 months of suspension.
Evergrande's liquidators say they have sold $255 million of the firm's assets 18 months into the liquidation process, while they have received creditor claims totalling $45 billion.    

SEPTEMBER 2025
China hits PwC's mainland China unit with a six-month suspension and a record fine of 441 million yuan over the firm's audit of Evergrande.

APRIL 2026
Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan pleads guilty in Shenzhen court to eight charges, including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud and illegally taking public deposits.
PwC Hong Kong settles with the city's securities watchdog to set aside ​HK$1 billion ($130 million) to compensate independent minority shareholders of Evergrande.

MAY 2026
Evergrande's liquidators seek 57 billion yuan in damages from PwC.

AUGUST 20, 2026
Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan is sentenced to life in prison by the Shenzhen court, which orders the confiscation of his personal property, saying the crimes "should be severely punished according to law".
Evergrande is fined 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) and its main subsidiary Hengda 7 billion yuan, while five other senior executives receive fines and prison terms ranging from six to 18 years.

($1 = 7.8169 Hong Kong dollars)
($1 = 7.1513 Chinese yuan)

 (Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee, Anne Marie Roantree and William Mallard)
 ((hongkong.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com;))