China property crisis: Know about rise and fall of Evergrande Founder Hui Ka Yan | Explainer

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Also read: Evergrande Chairman Hui under police control as China's property crisis deepens: Report The move adds to questions over the future of the world’s most indebted developer after setbacks to its restructuring plan in recent days roiled financial markets and raised the risk of a liquidation. It also casts doubt on the fate of the 64-year-old billionaire himself. Here’s everything you need to know about the rise and fall of Evergrande’s rags-to-riches founder: When Chinese President Xi Jinping marked the centenary in 2021 of the Communist Party’s founding with a speech proclaiming his nation’s unstoppable rise, there, overlooking the festivities in Tiananmen Square, was Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan.

Also read: China Evergrande shares suspended, China may have some learnings from US, India says Uday Kotak Born into poverty as the son of a wood cutter, Hui has been a party member for more than three decades and he has invested in areas endorsed by the top leadership, such as EVs and traditional Chinese medicine. He’s also been a prominent philanthropist — though his net worth has taken a beating recently. Evergrande’s purchase of local soccer team Guangzhou F.C.

indicated a shared passion with Xi for the sport. But in the end, those political ties were not enough to avert a default and what’s now a deepening crisis within his empire. Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin in Mandarin, was born in Henan province in 1958.

He lost his mother when he was eight months old, and was raised by his grandmother, who sold homemade vinegar, and his father, who cut wood for a living. Encouraged by the prospect of Deng Xiaoping’s economic reform plan, Hui quit his job at a steel firm in 1992 and headed to Shenzhen. He later began